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McLaren intent on signing Vettel, Alonso

There are several world champions on the Formula One grid this year, but only two multiple world champions. And McLaren wants them both. In fact, the latest reports from pit lane indicate that the British team is undertaking a concerted effort to sign one or both for next year or beyond. According to Autosport, both team principals Ron Dennis and Eric Boullier are focused on signing Sebastian Vettel and/or Fernando Alonso, who have between them taken six of the past nine world championships (the other three belonging to Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, all of whom have driven for McLaren) and are prepared not only to pay handsomely, but also to wait: Vettel is currently signed with Red Bull through the end of 2015, and Alonso with Ferrari through 2016. But both have struggled this season with cars that can't keep up with the front-running Mercedes, and could welcome the opportunity to start afresh with a new team – and a highly successful one at that. Of course, McLaren hasn't been at the top of its game lately either, but the Woking outfit is at the dawn of a new era. Next year it's bringing Honda back to the grid with an all-new engine that may take some time to break in but stands a chance of threatening the Mercedes' dominance this season in a way that the Renault and Ferrari engines have not. It just needs the right drivers to pilot them. As of yet, it seems that McLaren has not received a firm "no" from either driver's camp, and appear to be eager to continue pursuing either or both until they're told otherwise. In the meantime, the team is leaving its current drivers Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen in limbo with the prospect of being signed for another year, another few or not at all. It all depends on what becomes of Alonso and Vettel. After winning his back-to-back titles with Renault, Alonso briefly drove for McLaren in 2007. That was the same in which Vettel made his race debut for Toro Rosso, two years before switching to the Red Bull team he's been ever since. News Source: AutosportImage Credit: Clive Mason/Getty Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Motorsports McLaren F1 Sebastian Vettel

McLaren F1 designer Gordon Murray no fan of hybrid supercars

You'd think that the extreme performance, engineering and technology of hybrid hypercars like the McLaren P1, Ferrari LaFerrari and Porsche 918 Spyder would appeal to a guy like Gordon Murray. After all, the man behind the McLaren F1, the original hypercar, knows a thing or six about pushing the edge of the performance envelope with a new vehicle. The F1 came out over 20 years ago, but even then, it was exploring the limits of automotive technology. But if Murray were in the driver's seat today, he'd pass on all the F1-inspired trickery that's infiltrating the modern breed of supercars. Instead, as he tells Goodwood Road & Racing, he'd focus on building a "great driver's car" with "pure engineering." We aren't sure how Murray's engineering differs, or is purer, than the work done in Woking, Maranello and Zuffenhausen, but we suppose he's entitled to his opinions. Overall, the interview with GRR and Murray is a fascinating read into a man that has a very unique take on what a driver's car should be. Hop over and have a read. Featured Gallery 2015 McLaren P1: First Drive View 39 Photos Related Gallery McLaren F1 LM: Geneva 2013 View 14 Photos News Source: Goodwood Road & RacingImage Credit: Copyright 2014 Drew Phillips / AOL, Copyright 2014 Matt Davis / AOL Read This McLaren Coupe Performance mclaren p1 Gordon Murray

Supercar 'Holy Trinity' raced at the track, drag strip, and to 186 mph

There was a time when we weren't sure if we'd ever get the Ferrari LaFerrari, McLaren P1, and Porsche 918 Spyder on the track together. Now, we've have a multi-part series dissecting how each supercar approaches all kinds of go-fast tasks. Supercar Driver (SCD) looks at their performances around the track, on the drag strip, and on a runway. SCD didn't get any help from the automakers, it used three cars all owned by one British gentleman, Paul Bailey. The first video has British Touring Car Championship driver Mat Jackson running all three around Silverstone. The second video takes the coupes to Santa Pod Raceway to run the quarter-mile. The third video runs them out to Bruntingthorpe Airfield for a drag race to 300 kilometers per hour (186 mph). We found that latter video especially interesting because SCD shows a graph of how fast each car hit speed marks, and it's interesting to see where the winner made up all of its time and the where the third-place getter lost its time. Nota bene, the McLaren is using its fly-paper sticky Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R tires. You'll find the first video in the series above, the second two videos below. If you still haven't had enough, then check out the Hyper 5 three-part series by Alejandro Solomon filmed at California's Thermal Raceway, starting with the Holy Trinity and adding the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport and Pagani Huayra. Chris Harris also did fantastic work around Portimao with the help of Marino Franchitti and Tiff Needell, with assistance from the factories. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Ferrari McLaren Porsche Convertible Coupe Hybrid Luxury Special and Limited Editions Performance Supercars Videos porsche 918 spyder mclaren p1 ferrari laferrari