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Infographic reconstructs Senna's miracle drive at Donington

Detractors will tell you every Formula One race is the same: a bunch of overpaid, glorified cab drivers posing as athletes sit in cars that have nothing to do with the ones we see and drive on the road and proceed to drive around in circles. Of course racing fans know different. We know that no two grands prix are the same. But even then, some stand out more than others. Take the 1993 European Grand Prix, for example. It was the only time an F1 race was ever held at Donington Park, and on April 14 it was pouring. Ayrton Senna had already won his three world championships and was now in his sixth season with McLaren. He qualified fourth, behind Alain Prost and Damon Hill for Williams and Michael Schumacher for Benetton. But once the race got underway, all bets were off. Off the line he was passed by Karl Wendlinger in the Sauber, but then proceeded to pass Schumacher, retake Wendlinger, overtake Hill for second and take the lead from his arch-rival (and former team-mate) Prost, all on the first lap. It was a command performance in the wettest of weather that saw Senna finish nearly a full lap ahead of Damon Hill in second, and will go down in history as one of the most breathtaking opening laps in racing history – and serves as a fitting remembrance today, the 20th anniversary of Senna's death. McLaren has it all broken down in the tidy infographic below. Source: McLaren.com News Source: McLaren Motorsports McLaren F1 infographic ayrton senna european grand prix donington

2016 Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix recap: another wild show on and off track

Normally we use this space to provide a lengthy recap of the weekend's Formula 1 race, but we're going to try something different since most folks reading this know what happened at the Shanghai International Circuit on Sunday. Instead, we'll alight on what we saw as the big issues in and around the race. Let us know what you think in Comments. Proper qualifying is back. Thank goodness. It only took a month of embarrassment to fix it. And so is passing! For the third race in a row, big performance improvements at the ten teams behind Mercedes-AMG Petronas and a wider tire selection at this race graced us with opening stints filled with dicing cars. Seeing the McLarens on screen doesn't make us cringe. Manor doesn't only make the global feed when it's being lapped. We've been complaining about parade races for so long that we forgot excitement was possible without rain or wholesale regulation changes. Yes, Mercedes is still the king of the jungle, but there are some other proper midfield beasts on the hunt, too. Malfunctions up and down the grid did help the show in Shanghai, like Lewis Hamilton suffering perpetual troubles, Nico Hulkenberg's runaway front wheel which red-flagged Q2, and Sebastian Vettel's and Kimi Raikkonen's flubbed hot laps in Q3 that let Daniel Ricciardo slip by into second on the grid. Come race day things went all Grand Theft Auto at Turn 1 on the opening lap, sending some of the best cars to the pits. Then came Ricciardo's puncture while leading, then came the Safety Car – all by Lap 5. Nico Rosberg got 38 seconds of airtime on the way to victory – at the start and the finish, and that happened to be his margin of victory, too – otherwise he was a ghost. Everyone else was struggling and juggling. Rosberg's win at the Bahrain Grand Prix put the German at five consecutive victories going back to last year's Mexican Grand Prix. The history books show that any driver who's won five straight contests has gone on to win the championship. With his triumph in China, the German has won the season's first three races, the history books again show that the other nine drivers who've pulled that off have gone on to win the championship. Rosberg, 36 points ahead of his teammate in the standings, is having none of it. He said of the other victors, "But they didn't have Lewis Hamilton as their team-mate." Perhaps Mercedes was right not to make an engine deal with Red Bull last season.

McLaren gets on track with 570S GT4 and 570S Sprint

McLaren may be producing road-going sports cars these days, but it hasn't forgotten its racing roots. So it should come as little surprise that each of its model lines has found its way from the road to the track: the Super Series with the 650S GT3, the Ultimate Series with the P1 GTR, and soon the Sports Series with the announcement of not one, but two new variants of the 570S. First up is the 570S GT4, a racing model developed jointly by the McLaren GT competition division and independent motorsport firm CRS GT Limited to comply with the lowest of the FIA's sports racing categories. It's based on the road-going model, but features a number of upgrades. The powertrain carries over unchanged, but bodywork has been redone to accommodate the wider track. It rolls on Pirelli racing slicks with center-lock magnesium alloys. The suspension has adjustable dampers and coil-over springs with an on-board air jack. The aerodynamics are more aggressive with a large rear wing, front splitter, and underfloor, a larger radiator up front, and more ducts to keep it all cool. The 570S GT4 is set to debut at the British GT Championship race at Brands Hatch next month before it's made available to privateer teams. With it, McLaren Automotive has hired Ansar Ali (formerly of Caterham and Lotus and founder of Zenos) to serve as its Motorsport Director, separate from the GT and F1 racing divisions in Woking. McLaren is also planning a 570S Sprint. It'll be similar to the GT4 model, but instead of having to fit under any specific racing regulations, the Sprint is being designed for private track enthusiasts – just like the 650S Sprint and the P1 GTR. That ought to make it a hoot to drive, and we're looking forward to its arrival as well "in the coming weeks." Related Video: THE McLAREN SPORTS SERIES EXPANDS TRACK APPEAL WITH 570S GT4 AND 570S SPRINT · Track-only 570S GT4 and 570S Sprint models to be added to the McLaren Sports Series · Ansar Ali joins McLaren Automotive as Motorsport Director · 570S GT4 to enter a season-long competitive development program in British championship with Black Bull Ecurie Ecosse Woking, UK (March 15, 2016) – McLaren Automotive has confirmed two new track-only models of the recently-launched Sports Series with the introduction of the 570S GT4 and the 570S Sprint, developed in conjunction with the motorsport division of the Woking brand, McLaren GT and GT racing specialists, CRS GT.