2024 Mclaren 750s Mso on 2040-cars

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2015 Russian Grand Prix was full of crashes and DNFs

Mercedes-AMG Petronas non-executive chairman Niki Lauda said of Lewis Hamilton's race-day domination this year, "The guy is driving like a god." Qualifying is another story, though – teammate Nico Rosberg taking pole proved that sometimes deities have to settle for second on the grid. Williams driver Valtteri Bottas surprised himself and his team with third place, half a second behind Hamilton but 0.05 sec ahead of the first Ferrari driven by Sebastian Vettel, while a mistake on Kimi Raikkonen's final flying lap left him in fifth, 0.4 sec behind Vettel. The Sahara Force India team had a good showing, with Nico Hulkenberg qualifying sixth just ahead of teammate Sergio Perez in seventh. It's the first time they've had both drivers in the top ten on the grid since the 2014 British Grand Prix. Romain Grosjean is leaving the stormy waters of Lotus at the end of the year for the unknown waters of Haas F1, but he made the shoestring operation look really good before Renault takes over by taking eighth place on the grid. Max Verstappen qualified well again with ninth in the Toro Rosso, ahead of the first Infiniti Red Bull Racing of Daniel Ricciardo in tenth. Red Bull driver Daniil Kvyat lined up eleventh for his home grand prix, certainly a disappointment after locking up fifth place on the grid last year in a Toro Rosso. When Pirelli brought soft and supersoft compounds to Sochi, the company said it hoped this year's race would be better than last year's. We're sure this first-lap mishap isn't what they meant. Rosberg and Hamilton dragged it down to Turn 1, with Rosberg getting the inside line. Hamilton had to go wide at Turn 2 as Rosberg fought to hold position, but they left a mess in their wake: Hulkenberg spun going into Turn 2 and stopped in the middle of the track, and Marcus Ericsson in the Sauber – who'd started 16th – collided with him. Both cars were out of the race immediately, and the Safety Car came in. The Safety Car returned to the pits on Lap 3 Rosberg led the field, but just two laps later the German complained of a sticking throttle pedal. Two laps later he had to retire, unable to drive the car properly. That put Hamilton at the front, and we've seen that race a bunch of times before. He built a double-digit lead and never lost it.

McLaren won't offer 540C in United States

McLaren launched its new entry-level Sports Series in New York with the 570S, and followed up in Shanghai with the more affordable 540C. However we can now confirm that the 540C won't be offered in the United States. In correspondence with Autoblog (and following rampant speculation circulating the Internet), McLaren spokesman Wayne Bruce confirmed: "Following a series of previews in which interest from American customers has been exclusively in the 570S, we will now concentrate on only this model for the launch of Sports Series in the US to satisfy demand." That means the 570S will remain (for the time being at least) the most affordable model – if a term has ever been more relative – McLaren will offer in the US, priced at $184,900. We can also expect additional versions of the Sports Series to follow, including a roadster and a third bodystyle as well. The cheaper 540C won't be kept out of North America altogether, though: it will be offered in Canada. North of the Border, the 540C is priced at $196,500 Canadian (equivalent to about $158k at current exchange rates), with the 570S going for $219,750 Canadian (~$177k). Related Video:

McLaren planning P13 GT with unconventional trunk

It was just a couple of months ago that we last brought you word on P13, the project being undertaken by McLaren to slot in a new entry-level model below the above-pictured 650S. Speaking with McLaren personnel at the launch of the latter, we said that the P13 would come in multiple bodystyles – which is to say, more than just a coupe and convertible. Now Car and Driver says it knows what that third bodystyle will be. According to an unnamed inside source in Woking, C/D reports that, in addition to a two-seat coupe and Spider, the P13 (or whatever it's ultimately called for public consumption) will be offered as a GT model. And just what will the difference be between the coupe and GT, you ask? Not necessarily the addition of extra seats in the back: according to Car and Driver, that will be a luggage compartment aft of the engine and passenger compartment. The resulting form, we understand, will resemble a Jaguar E-Type coupe, which could be what we were actually hearing about a couple of years ago when rumors surfaced of a 12C shooting brake in the works. One way or another, it would be an interesting development, potentially as novel as the Ferrari FF but at the opposite end of the spectrum and with its 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8 – albeit slightly detuned – still located amidships and still driving the rear wheels through a seven-speed DCT. We'll just have to wait and see how it turns out, but with Frank Stephenson working on the design, we bet it'll be a stunner, if a slightly unconventional one.