2018 Mclaren 720s Luxury on 2040-cars

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F1 eyes may have been opened to IndyCar's challenges after McLaren flop

INDIANAPOLIS — Alexander Rossi had no idea what he was getting into when he moved from Formula One to IndyCar. Turning left the whole race? Looks easy. But as Rossi soon found out — and as two-time world champion Fernando Alonso and his McLaren team learned in failing to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 last weekend — getting around Indianapolis Motor Speedway at speeds eclipsing 230 mph is a lot tougher than it looks. "I didn't understand what oval racing was. I didn't understand what IndyCar racing was, because there is no exposure to it in Europe," said Rossi, an American who moved there as a teenager and made his F1 dreams come true with seven starts during the 2014 and '15 seasons. "So when guys haven't been a part of it," Rossi said, "they don't understand how difficult it is, how unique it is to everything they've done. On TV, let's be honest, it doesn't look that challenging, so being a European driver, in your mind you're at the pinnacle of the sport. You think, 'Of course I can go over there and do that and it wouldn't be a problem.'" That inherent arrogance was underscored two years ago, when Alonso showed up at the Indy 500 for the first time. He ran near the front all race, only for his Honda engine to let him down. Naturally, many F1 drivers were quick to pounce on their rival open-wheel series, claiming it must not be too difficult to win in IndyCar if Alonso could be competitive right out of the gate. "I looked at the times and, frankly, for his first-ever qualifying for Fernando to be fifth — what does that say about Indy?" five-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton mused to L'Equipe shortly afterward. "A great driver," he said, "if he cannot win in Formula 1, will look for other races to win." In other words, Hamilton was calling IndyCar second-rate. That's part of why so many eyebrows jumped at McLaren's spectacular disappointment. "Fernando may have done well in 2017, so there may have been a feeling like all he has to do is show up and take it over," said Mark Miles, the chairman of Hulman & Co., which owns Indianapolis Motor Speedway. "I think this causes that sense of, 'Hey, this is harder than we thought.'" The team that bumped the well-funded, England-based team with the rich racing heritage from this year's field? None other than Juncos Racing, the tiny team founded by Argentina-born Ricardo Juncos and to this day run on such a shoestring budget that it was still signing up sponsors on Wednesday .

Ron Dennis vacates McLaren F1's CEO position after 35 years

McLaren's Ron Dennis, one of the biggest names in F1 history, is stepping down from his CEO position after 35 years. Dennis was told on Tuesday he must give up his position as McLaren's chairman and chief executive, reports the BBC. Dennis, who holds a 25-percent stake in McLaren, attempted to contest the shareholders' decision to put him on so-called "gardening leave" redundancy. Reports say McLaren's other owners, TAG Group CEO Mansour Ojjeh and the Bahrain-based investment fund Mumtalakat, ousted him due to being at odds with Dennis' management style. Ojjeh holds another 25-percent stake in McLaren, and Mumtalakat holds the remaining 50 percent. According to Dennis, the rest of the management team warned Ojjeh about the possible consequences of removing him from McLaren. As Dennis says, "My management style is the same as it has always been and is one that has enabled McLaren to become an automotive and technology group that has won 20 Formula 1 World Championships and grown into an GBP850m-a-year business." Due to differences in vision regarding McLaren's future, there was no other option for Dennis than to leave the company. Dennis will still retain his 25-percent stake in the company and remain on the boards of both McLaren Technology Group and McLaren Automotive. Dennis states he plans to launch a new technology investment fund as soon as his contractual commitments expire; he also pledges to "use his McLaren board seat to protect the interest of the business and its 3,500 employees." McLaren has failed to win a F1 title after Lewis Hamilton's drivers' championship eight years ago and the latest constructors' title was won in 1998, 18 years ago.Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. News Source: BBC SportImage Credit: Mark Thompson via Getty Images Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Motorsports McLaren

2021 McLaren 765LT is longer, lighter, and more powerful than the 720S

Supercars are proliferating in England. Built to be equally at home on the road and on the track, the McLaren 765LT picks up where the 675LT left off by giving buyers a lighter and more powerful alternative to the 720S.  LT stands for Longtail, a name inaugurated in the 1990s by the track-only F1 GTR. McLaren redesigned the front splitter, the front bumper, the side skirts, the rear bumper, and the rear diffuser, but the 765LT's most impressive party trick is its hydraulically-operated rear wing. It's bigger than the one fitted to the 720S and it's positioned a little bit higher even when it's resting. The spoiler fully deploys when the driver smashes the brake pedal. McLaren left no avenue unexplored in its quest to remove as much weight as possible. It made the body panels with a lighter, model-specific type of carbon fiber, fitted thinner glass, and removed creature comforts like the stereo as well as the air conditioning system. Fear not, brave commuters: both can be added back at no extra cost. Some of the parts inside the transmission are formed from a high-performance nickel chrome named 20NiCh commonly found in Formula One cars, and McLaren fitted a lithium-ion battery that's 6.6 pounds lighter than the battery in the 720S. All told, the 2,709-pound 765LT weighs 176 pounds less than the 720S, with one catch: buyers need to order the car with the optional, Senna-sourced carbon fiber bucket seats to achieve that figure. The heart of the 765LT is a twin-turbocharged, 4.0-liter V8 engine that makes 755 horsepower at 7,500 rpm and 590 pound-feet of torque at 5,500 rpm. It's bolted to a seven-speed automatic transmission with comfort, sport, and track modes. 60 mph arrives in just 2.7 seconds, while holding the pedal to the floor for 7.2 seconds gets the 765LT to 124 mph. From there, slide your foot from the gas to the brake to decelerate to a complete stop in 361 feet. Or don't, and the V8 will continue screaming its heart out until the speedometer shows 205 mph. McLaren 765LT View 31 Photos The steering is much quicker, carbon ceramic brake discs come standard, specific Pirelli tires provide tremendous grip, and engineers applied lessons learned while developing the Senna and the Speedtail to make the suspension algorithm more precise. Enthusiast who regularly drive on a track will also notice the aerodynamic add-ons give the 765LT about 25% more downforce than the 720S.