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McLaren MSO X is a bespoke 570S GT4 Le Mans car for the road

We like the McLaren 570S a lot. Few vehicles combine sharp looks, raw speed and genuine usability like McLaren's entry-level model. Still, there's always room for some custom changes. That's where McLaren Special Operations steps in. MSO builds bespoke vehicles like the MSO R and MSO HS (both based on the McLaren 675LT) for customers willing to shell out the dough. Usually it's a one or two-car run, but McLaren just announced a run of 10 road-legal cars done up like the 570S GT4 race car and painted like McLaren F1 GTR Le Mans cars from the '90s. One look at the McLaren MSO X and you'll know it means business. If the paint scheme, roof snorkel and pylon-mounted rear wing don't give it away, the stripped-down interior (complete with a fire extinguisher) probably will. This is a race car for the road, and since all the cars were commissioned by McLaren Newport Beach, they're actually legal in the US. McLaren wants the owners to be able to drive their cars to the track, so each MSO X retains parking sensors, rear-view cameras, air conditioning and a lift for speed bumps and driveways. MSO did as much as possible to make the cars look like the 570S GT4, adding a few other touches here and there. The rear wing adds 220 lbs of downforce to the rear. The roof snorkel was inspired by the 1997 F1 GTR Longtail and improves air induction. The hood has intakes that help channel air to the snorkel and rear wing. Dive planes on the front add some stability up front. Other changes include MSO Titanium Super Sports Exhaust and Pirelli PZero Corsa tires. The roof, hood, side skirts, engine cover, front and rear bumpers and rear diffuser are all done in a satin carbon fiber finish. McLaren says the cutouts in the bumper are there to shave weight. The rest of the car is painted in a different race livery. The interior of the standard 570S features carbon fiber on the steering wheel, instrument cluster and center console. The MSO X removes the carpeting and leather, exposing the McLaren's carbon-fiber Monocell 2 on the car's door sills. Each carbon-fiber seat is fitted with a six-point racing harness. The standard seat belts are still there for non-track driving. There's space behind the seats for a helmet. The McLaren Track Telemetry from the 720S adds cameras so you can review your laps. MSO doesn't ever list costs, but if you're ordering a bespoke supercar, money usually isn't an issue. We just want pictures of the other eight cars.

McLaren to go full hybrid by 2025 as part of plan for 18 new models and derivatives

A few months ago, McLaren Automotive CEO Mike Flewitt provided some insight on the future lineup at the English carmaker. He told Autocar we could expect the next generation of sportscars to feature hybrid powertrains and some measure of self-driving capability. In comments this weekend at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, Flewitt appears to expand on and clarify a few aspects from the earlier report, based on updates to the company's business plan. First, instead of the earlier report that the Super Series and Sports Series would go all by hybrid by 2022, that won't actually be complete until 2025. As with the ubiquitous 3.8-liter V8, a single hybrid powertrain will come in different outputs in different models. Flewitt wouldn't confirm whether the hybrid would be based around a V6. He did say, however, that the system is "designed... to have more differentiation than we have had out of the current package," and performance variety would come from tweaking the electric portion of the powerplant, not the ICE. He didn't expand on that point, but that could mean a wider range of driving characteristics within each series, or a greater power spread between series', or both. The carmaker's working on batteries that can do 30 minutes of track use, suggesting a potent pack with a high degree of tunability. The 2025 deadline for hybridization could be due to a rollout of 18 new models and derivatives. Right now, McLaren makes six cars, five in the entry-tier Sports Series, the lone 720S in the Super Series; we don't count the Senna because it's sold out. Even overhauling the entire lineup, and counting the BP23 and the P1 successor in 2025, that still leaves ten new and offshoot models in the next seven years. Whatever they are, they'll help McLaren reach its increased target of 6,000 sales a year by 2025. Flewitt also took the chance to swap the word "autonomy" for "augmentation" when speaking of future driver assistance technology. In the Autocar report, the CEO said the lineup would need autonomous features "designed in for safety, legislation, and emissions." At Goodwood, he recast the driver aids as "'augmentation' technology,'" the focus on helping the driver be better behind the wheel instead of taking the wheel for him. "Imagine," said COO Jens Ludman, "having a virtual coach who could show you how to improve on a track." Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Formula One's Valtteri Bottas can turn it up to 11 in Spain

BARCELONA - Valtteri Bottas can add his name to one of Formula One's longest sequences by following up his breakthrough win in Russia with another triumph when the European season starts in Spain this weekend. The Finn, fresh from his first Grand Prix victory with champions Mercedes in Russia, is the man most likely to become the 11th different winner in a row at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya. No other track on the calendar has had such a variety of winners over the past decade, an ironic fact given that it is the most familiar to drivers from winter testing and was once famed for its predictability. Last year it was Dutch 18-year-old Max Verstappen who became the sport's youngest winner when he triumphed for Red Bull, on his team debut, after both Mercedes drivers collided at the start. In 2012, it was now-departed Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado -- a one-hit wonder -- who handed Williams a surprise victory that remains their most recent. Ferrari's championship leader Sebastian Vettel and Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton, 13 points behind the German, will start as favorites and success for either could be an omen given that both went on to take the title last time they won in Spain. But Bottas, who joined Mercedes from Williams in January as replacement for retired 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg, is the best bet to continue the streak of different winners in Spain even if he has yet to finish higher than fourth there. "Getting that first win definitely gives me a lot of confidence that I can do it, even though I always knew I had the ability," he said after Sochi. "And now it's done, I just want to do it again and again." RICCIARDO REVIVAL The only other driver from the leading trio of teams yet to triumph in Barcelona is Verstappen's Australian team mate Daniel Ricciardo, but the Red Bull has lagged Mercedes and Ferrari on pace so far this year. That will surely change, with the flow of upgrades set to speed up now that teams are closer to their factories, and Red Bull have some big chassis modifications in the pipeline with engine improvements still to come. "I hope the upgrade will give us a chance to really fight with Mercedes and Ferrari or at least get us closer," said Ricciardo. The driver of car number 11, Force India's Mexican Sergio Perez, has racked up 14 successive points finishes and he too will have aerodynamic updates on his car.