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Race Recap: 2015 Canadian F1 Grand Prix is better behind the front

As of Saturday afternoon in Montreal, Canada, it was all about the number four. Lewis Hamilton put his Mercedes-AMG Petronas on pole position for the fourth time at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, and now his tally of pole positions matches his race number: 44. Nico Rosberg lines up beside him, which is the fourth time that particular one-two combo has occurred this season. Ferrari spent three engine development tokens to try and close the gap to Mercedes, Kimi Raikkonen making the most of it with third position on the gird. His teammate Sebastian Vettel got the worst of it, however, when the MGU-K unit failed during Q1, leaving him 160 horsepower down and out at the first hurdle. Valtteri Bottas put a revitalized Williams on the grid at fourth, ahead of a Lotus lockout of the third row with Romain Grosjean leading the way in fifth, Pastor Maldonado just beside. Nico Hulkenberg got the first Sahara Force India into seventh – the team is still waiting on the upgraded B car that should be available for Austria – ahead of Daniil Kvyat in the first Infiniti Red Bull Racing and a "pissed off" Daniel Ricciardo in the second Red Bull. Sergio Perez made it two Force Indias in the top ten, a welcome result from a team performing below expectations of late. When the lights went out, at the very front it was much ado about not that much at all. Hamilton got away clean and stabbed across the track to close the door for Rosberg, giving Raikkonen a chance to take the inside line into Turn 1 in an attempt to clear Rosberg for second place. That didn't happen, leaving the two Mercedes' to run in grid position for the entire race. It wasn't boring – Rosberg stayed close, rubber-banding the time gap to the leader from a little more than one second to just under four seconds, and Montreal is famous for race-rearranging safety cars and on-track incidents. But none of those occurred, so Hamilton crossed the line 2.285 seconds ahead of Rosberg after 70 laps to earn his fourth victory in Canada and the first-ever victory for the Brackley, UK-based Mercedes team. Valtteri Bottas drove his Williams to third position, the first podium place for the team this year and a welcome salve to heal the team's wounds from a poor showing in Monaco. That placing came courtesy of being in the right place at the right time, which was not far behind Raikkonen when the Ferrari driver spun at the hairpin on Lap 28 after his first pit stop.

McLaren rolls out new 650S en route to Geneva

There are a lot of good things to be said about the McLaren MP4-12C. It is, after all, one of the most thoroughly capable supercars on the market, and it's served as a fitting launch pad for the new McLaren Automotive operation. What the 12C has never had, however, is an engaging name or a distinctive design. But the latter appears to be something Woking is out to fix with the new 650S. Based on the 12C, the 650S incorporates a number of key improvements over its progenitor – some of which you can see and some of which you can't. The new front end takes its cues from the P1, with a better integrated splitter and LED headlamps, while the rear bumper takes its inspiration from the company's 12C GT3 racing model. The side intakes are new, and the rear wing has been optimized to help deliver 24-percent more downforce at speed. Five-spoke alloys (of curiously unspecified diameter) are wrapped in special Pirelli P Zero Corsa MC1 rubber. As expected, underneath the revised sheetmetal sits a retuned version of McLaren's ubiquitous 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8 now producing (as the name suggests) 650 metric horsepower (641 hp by our standards). The ProActive Chassis Control system has also been recalibrated and allows the driver to adjust suspension settings independent of engine response. McLaren has not released performance figures for the 650S, but you can expect the increased power and improved aero to give shave a tenth or two off the 0-60 time – enough to drop it below the 3-second mark. The updated cabin is fitted with all the bells and whistles – from satellite radio and navigation to smartphone integration – and buyers will be able to opt for fixed carbon racing buckets, electric steering column adjustment, rear camera and more. Most crucially, the 650S will launch at next month's Geneva Motor Show in both coupe and hardtop convertible versions right from the get-go, ostensibly making this an apt replacement for the entire MP4-12C line. However, as you can see from the press release below, McLaren insists that it will continue offering the 12C alongside the 650S, at least for the time being. Assuming the premium for the upgraded model isn't too ludicrous, we can't imagine many buyers going for the older model though.

McLaren and Honda rekindle a winning combination

With the 2014 Formula One World Championship now drawn to a close, all eyes are fixed on next season. And for both McLaren and Honda, that means the dawn of a new era – or hopefully, the return to one bygone. After twenty years running Mercedes engines, McLaren is switching back to Honda next season, rekindling the most successful partnership the once-dominant team has ever had. Immediately after swapping to Honda power in 1988 – and with Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost behind the wheel – McLaren entered its winningest era, racking up four consecutive world championships. In the two decades it's spent under Mercedes power since, it won three drivers' titles and one constructors', leaving the relatively brief Honda era as its most successful. It was also the most successful for Honda, which had enjoyed success with Williams and some with Lotus, but far more with McLaren – the likes of which it was never able to recreate. The Japanese automaker that was the first to break into the Euro-centric series left grand prix racing when it left McLaren, and despite returning to fund its own team for the better part of a decade, claimed but one checkered flag before calling it quits again. Whether the new collaboration will return both outfits to the winner's circle remains to be seen, but we're looking forward to finding out. In the meantime, after releasing a couple of images from the video shoot last week, McLaren has put out this minute-and-a-half video clip showing the MP4-29H running a few laps around Silverstone, marking the official start of what could be the second reign of the McLaren-Honda dynasty. News Source: McLaren Motorsports Honda McLaren Racing Vehicles Videos F1 mclaren-honda