2014 Mclaren Mp4-12c Spider on 2040-cars

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McLaren intent on signing Vettel, Alonso

There are several world champions on the Formula One grid this year, but only two multiple world champions. And McLaren wants them both. In fact, the latest reports from pit lane indicate that the British team is undertaking a concerted effort to sign one or both for next year or beyond. According to Autosport, both team principals Ron Dennis and Eric Boullier are focused on signing Sebastian Vettel and/or Fernando Alonso, who have between them taken six of the past nine world championships (the other three belonging to Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, all of whom have driven for McLaren) and are prepared not only to pay handsomely, but also to wait: Vettel is currently signed with Red Bull through the end of 2015, and Alonso with Ferrari through 2016. But both have struggled this season with cars that can't keep up with the front-running Mercedes, and could welcome the opportunity to start afresh with a new team – and a highly successful one at that. Of course, McLaren hasn't been at the top of its game lately either, but the Woking outfit is at the dawn of a new era. Next year it's bringing Honda back to the grid with an all-new engine that may take some time to break in but stands a chance of threatening the Mercedes' dominance this season in a way that the Renault and Ferrari engines have not. It just needs the right drivers to pilot them. As of yet, it seems that McLaren has not received a firm "no" from either driver's camp, and appear to be eager to continue pursuing either or both until they're told otherwise. In the meantime, the team is leaving its current drivers Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen in limbo with the prospect of being signed for another year, another few or not at all. It all depends on what becomes of Alonso and Vettel. After winning his back-to-back titles with Renault, Alonso briefly drove for McLaren in 2007. That was the same in which Vettel made his race debut for Toro Rosso, two years before switching to the Red Bull team he's been ever since. News Source: AutosportImage Credit: Clive Mason/Getty Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Motorsports McLaren F1 Sebastian Vettel

McLaren 650S will hit 124 mph in 8.4 seconds

Sometimes an automaker reveals a car, in full, and that's the whole story. But sometimes things get dragged out a bit. The McLaren 650S falls in the latter category, which strikes us as a bit odd considering that it's essentially a massaged version of the existing MP4-12C. No matter, the news here remains impressive all the same. The British racing team turned supercar constructor first announced the arrival of the 650S two weeks ago. A few days later, the first images and video footage leaked out. McLaren quickly released initial details and official photos the next day, but withheld certain information – key details like pricing, and, you know... how fast it can actually go. We still haven't seen the thing in person – that will come next week when the car is unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show – but now McLaren has released official performance stats for its new supercar (along with a trio of new snapshots). So just how quick is it? Well, for starters, it'll run the 0-62 mph sprint in three seconds flat and trip the quarter-mile lights in 10.5 seconds before topping out at 207 miles per hour. That's rather quick no matter how you slice it, but for context, McLaren points us to the car's 0-124 mph time, and how that compares to other cars it's made. At 8.4 seconds, it takes the 650S half a second less to reach that speed than the 12C upon which it's based – that means it's a full second quicker than the legendary McLaren F1. And that's no mean feat considering that, even twenty years later, McLaren's first road car is still the yardstick against which all other supercars are measured. Scope out the rest of the impressive stats in the press release below. PERFORMANCE FIGURES ANNOUNCED FOR THE McLAREN 650S AHEAD OF GENEVA DEBUT Feb 27, 2014 - New McLaren 650S Coupe can accelerate 0-200km/h (0-124mph) in just 8.4 seconds - Faster than rival 'stripped out' road racers, yet offers far superior comfort, refinement and equipment - Available in Coupe and Spider variants from launch As the first example of the McLaren 650S rolled off the line at the state-of-the-art McLaren Production Centre in Woking, McLaren Automotive has released performance numbers and confirmed pricing ahead of the global debut at the 84th International Geneva Motor Show. The latest addition to the McLaren range accelerates to 100km/h (62mph) from rest in just 3.0 seconds, and can reach 200km/h (124mph) in just 8.4 seconds.

Fernando Alonso gets quickly up to speed at the Brickyard

INDIANAPOLIS - Fernando Alonso was quickly up to speed at the famed Brickyard on Wednesday, blazing through his IndyCar rookie orientation to close in on earning a spot on the Indianapolis 500 starting grid. Alonso, who has competed in 276 Formula One races and is a double world champion, is an IndyCar debutant and arrived at in Indianapolis needing to pass a rookie test which he did with flying colours by recording a top speed of 222.548 mph (358.156 kph). It was an impressive debut by the 35-year-old Spaniard considering that Canada's James Hinchcliffe claimed pole position for last year's race with a four-lap average speed of 230.760 mph. "It felt new to me, it felt a little bit strange driving anti-clockwise at those speeds," Alonso told reporters. "What I felt in the car was more-or-less what I expected. What is different now is my excitement of the race itself." Alonso set the motor racing world buzzing when he announced last month that he had been granted clearance by his McLaren F1 team to skip the Monaco Grand Prix and race in the Indy 500 on May 28 in pursuit of the sport's famed Triple Crown - a Formula One title and Indy 500 and Le Mans wins. McLaren will enter the 101st edition of the Indy with a Honda-engined Indy car run by Andretti Autosport, owned by former McLaren driver Michael Andretti, in the old papaya orange livery of the 1970s. Alonso looked right at home at the Brickyard as he slipped into the number 29 car and was quickly turning laps of more than 200 mph around the 2.5 mile oval. The rookie orientation program was the first on-track step for Alonso towards securing a place in the 33 car field. All first-year competitors in the Indianapolis 500 must complete a gradual introduction to the speeds and unique nature of the sprawling track. During the private test Alonso ran 110 laps but it will be a much different situation on May 28 when he will have to contend with a 33-car field. "Today was just running alone learning the circuit and all the things that are involved with this technique," said Alonso, who had a run-in with two birds near the end of his session. "I am not driving the car, the car is driving myself around at the moment." The Spaniard, who is having a difficult F1 season with uncompetitive McLaren, has set his sights on joining Briton Graham Hill as the only drivers to achieve the Triple Crown.