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McLaren bringing unique P1 MSO to Pebble Beach

With only 375 examples to be made (170 of which have already been completed), you can bet that few of the McLaren P1s to leave the factory in Woking will be the same. But for those looking to further distinguish their supercar, McLaren Special Operations is glad to meet the customer's individual requests, and will be bringing two examples of its latest work to the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance this year, the same place where MSO was launched three years ago. The most noteworthy is a P1 commissioned by a North American customer who had MSO outfit his hybrid hypercar to unique specifications. It's done up in Stirling Grey metallic with a satin nickel Stealth Pack, gloss carbon fiber and McLaren's trademark shade of orange detailing everything from the brake calipers to the rear wing brackets. The buyer also had MSO install 24-carat gold heat shielding around the engine bay and inconel exhaust, just like the original McLaren F1, a custom aluminum grille and an interior decked out in carbon fiber, Alcantara, a custom steering wheel and more orange and satin nickel detailing. Alongside this unique P1, MSO will also be showcasing a unique 650S Spider commissioned by the Newport Beach dealership in Cerulean Blue metallic flake and satin carbon trim. See the press release below for all the details on both these bespoke takes on already-exclusive supercars. Of course the bigger news, however, is the P1 GTR track car that will be unveiled at Pebble this year as well. McLAREN SPECIAL OPERATIONS RETURNS TO PEBBLE BEACH CONCOURS D'ELEGANCE TO SHOWCASE THE LATEST MODELS Three years after launching at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, McLaren Special Operations (MSO) will return to the fairway of the 18th hole at the famous Pebble Beach automotive weekend with unique examples of the McLaren P1™ and the recently launched MSO 650S Spider. The bespoke McLaren Special Operations division was launched in 2011, and offers a full personalisation service for McLaren owners. The dedicated division grew out of McLaren's Customer Care programme, which goes back more than 20 years to the days of the McLaren F1 roadcar, and continues to look after servicing and maintaining cherished F1s for owners, as well as undertaking personalisation work for all McLaren models. Commissioned by a North American customer, the McLaren P1™ to be shown features a host of bespoke options which subtly mark this car out, and is on display publicly for the first time.

Fernando Alonso to miss Australian Grand Prix

Fernando Alonso hasn't missed a Formula One race since the tire debacle at 2005 United States Grand Prix, but he won't be racing at the upcoming season-opener in Australia this month. The two-time world champion suffered a concussion in a crash during a pre-season test session in Barcelona late last month and was airlifted to a local hospital. He was subsequently released and went home to recover, but sat out the following test session. Now McLaren has announced that while he's recuperating nicely, his doctors have advised him to avoid a situation that could put him back in harm's way for the time being. McLaren and Alonso hope that he'll be back to racing condition in time for the second round at the Malaysian Grand Prix at the end of the month. But in the meantime Kevin Magnussen, who drove for the team last season before being bumped down to test and reserve driver, will drive the new Honda-powered MP4-30 at the Australian Grand Prix alongside Jenson Button.

Jenson Button returns to F1 at Monaco while Fernando Alonso drives at Indy

MANAMA (Reuters) - Britain's Jenson Button will stand in for Fernando Alonso at next month's Monaco Formula One Grand Prix while the Spaniard competes in the Indianapolis 500 on the same day, McLaren announced on Friday. "I'm thrilled to be making a one-off return to Formula One racing, and I couldn't think of a better place to make that return than my adopted home Grand Prix: Monaco," the 37-year-old said in a statement at the Bahrain Grand Prix. Monaco resident Button handed over his McLaren seat to Belgian rookie Stoffel Vandoorne at the end of last season but remained under contract to the team with the possibility of returning in 2018. He won the showcase race in 2009 on his way to the title with Brawn GP. Honda-powered McLaren have endured a tough start to the season, with no points from two races, but Monaco's tricky street circuit could suit their car better and is also one where drivers can make the difference. Button will be the most experienced driver in the race as he makes his 306th start, with the Briton third in the all-time list behind the retired Rubens Barrichello and Michael Schumacher. He is also the last driver to win a race for McLaren, in Brazil in 2012, but cannot hope for such success this time. FAVORITE TRACK "It's one of my all-time favorite racetracks," said the winner of 15 grands prix who made his Formula One debut 17 years ago with Williams. "OK, I realize we won't have a realistic chance of repeating my 2009 victory, but I think we'll have an opportunity to score world championship points, which will be very valuable to the team in terms of constructors' rankings. "As for Fernando, I hope he not only fares well at Indy but enjoys it too." McLaren announced earlier in the week that double world champion Alonso would compete at Indianapolis with a car run by Andretti Autosport, last year's winners. McLaren racing director Eric Boullier said Button, who has kept his fitness up by competing in triathlons, would spend time in the team's simulator but there was no need for him to join an in-season test in Bahrain next week. "I rang him and his first reaction was, 'Great, I'm so excited," said the Frenchman of their short conversation after initial text exchanges. "You could feel the excitement on the phone was real. "Jenson was the choice from day one, the obvious choice by far," he told reporters.