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McLaren, Honda confirm F1 divorce, coupling with new partners

The news broke recently that McLaren F1 and its engine partner Honda would split ways after the 2017 season. Neither party commented the news initially, but there is now a confirmation from both sides. In addition, McLaren confirmed today that they will be using Renault engines for the next three F1 seasons. This will be the first time that a McLaren Renault F1 car will compete. McLaren's Executive Chairman Shaikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa praised Honda in his statement, while acknowledging that the 2015-2017 joint venture hasn't been successful enough: "Although our partnership has not produced the desired success, that does not diminish the great history our two companies have enjoyed together, nor our continued efforts to achieve success in Formula 1. At this point in time, it is in the best interests of both companies that we pursue our racing ambitions separately." Zak Brown, McLaren's Executive Director echoed that statement, adding that "It is certainly not for the want of effort on the part of either Honda or McLaren," and that the company hopes to see Honda get back to the top. At the moment McLaren has achieved 11 points and ninth place in the standings, with Honda power. Regarding Renault, Brown said, "Today's announcement gives us the stability we need to move ahead with our chassis and technical program for 2018 without any further hesitation." This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. As for Honda, they announced today that an agreement was reached on providing engines for Scuderia Toro Rosso for the 2018 season. As Honda's president Takahiro Hachigo said, "Toro Rosso is an experienced team with a youthful energy and history of nurturing the stars of the future. Everyone at Honda is looking forward to working with Toro Rosso." About McLaren, Hachigo said, "Honda will continue the fight together with McLaren all the way to the end of the 2017 season, and then continue its F1 racing activities in 2018 and beyond." Related Video: News Source: Honda, Formula 1Image Credit: Xavier Bonilla/NurPhoto via Getty Images Motorsports Honda McLaren Renault Racing Vehicles F1 toro rosso renault sport scuderia toro rosso takahiro hachigo

McLaren F1 team sets deadline for engine decision amid Renault speculation

BUDAPEST - McLaren says the next five weeks will be the key to deciding which engine it will use next season, with speculation mounting that the former world champions could ditch Honda and switch to Renault. Chief operating officer Jonathan Neale told Reuters at the Hungarian Grand Prix that "everybody is talking to everybody," but time was running out. "We've got to land those decisions in the next four or five weeks," he said, speaking from a design perspective and because drivers like McLaren's Fernando Alonso were waiting to see what engines teams had before committing to new deals. "I think there is a solution out there for everybody and I hope it's one that will be able to retain Fernando in this team." McLaren scored their first double-points finish of the season in Budapest on Sunday with double world champion Alonso finishing sixth, a day after his 36th birthday, and Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne 10th. The nine points lifted McLaren off the bottom of the standings just before the August break and factory shutdown, a result that Neale compared to scoring a goal before halftime. Alonso's future is a key concern, with the Spaniard out of contract and saying McLaren needs to provide a competitive car to keep him. Honda's power unit has been beset with problems since the partnership started in 2015, the engine neither reliable nor competitive. Hungary, the slowest permanent circuit on the calendar, reduced those shortcomings, but the next two races in Belgium and Italy are two of the fastest, where engine horsepower is of critical importance. McLaren is Honda's sole team in Formula One. A proposed partnership with Sauber terminated last week with the Swiss team choosing to stay with Ferrari. A split from McLaren could force the Japanese manufacturer out of the sport, but Neale hinted at an alternative. "You'll have seen the media speculation that there's discussions with Toro Rosso," he said. Toro Rosso use Renault engines, but a switch to Honda — which could bring welcome funding to a team whose Red Bull parent has considered a sale in the past — would free the French units for McLaren. The Renault engine has won a race this season with Red Bull and could satisfy Alonso, who won both his titles with the French manufacturer. The other alternatives to Honda are Mercedes and Ferrari, but Neale recognized that putting a Ferrari engine in a McLaren, the Italian team's historic arch-rivals, was highly unlikely.

F1's Daniel Ricciardo a Monaco spoiler? 'I run those streets'

MONACO - Daniel Ricciardo jokes that he has a new strategy for Monaco this year - no pitstops, just keep going all the way to the checkered flag. The rules do not allow him to do that, of course, but the comment underlines the lingering pain of last year when the Australian seized pole position but was robbed of victory by a pitstop bungle. "It sucks. It hurts," said the Red Bull driver, who finished second to Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton, at the time. "I got to the pits and everyone's running around like headless chooks (chickens)." The pole position was the only one that escaped champions Mercedes last year, and Ricciardo took some solace when he then won in Malaysia after Hamilton suffered engine failure. Title rivals Hamilton and Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, separated by just six points and with two wins apiece, will be the favorites in Sunday's showcase race around the metal-fenced streets. But Ricciardo reckons he can again muscle in on the action, even if his car's Renault engine is down on power. "Regardless of where the car is at come Monaco, I'm certainly confident going there," he said at the previous Spanish Grand Prix, where he finished third. "I certainly feel like I run those streets ... I already get excited thinking about Monaco, I love that place. It's cool," he added. "The memories of last year are still more sweet than bitter so I'm just excited to get another chance this year." MILESTONES IN MIND Both Hamilton and Vettel have their own milestones in mind on what promises to be a sunny week in the Mediterranean principality for the two multiple title winners. Vettel, the championship leader, is aiming to become the first Ferrari driver to win in Monaco since Michael Schumacher in 2001 -- almost ancient history as far as Formula One is concerned. Hamilton meanwhile can equal his late, great idol Ayrton Senna's career tally of 65 pole positions on the 30th anniversary of the Brazilian's first Monaco win. Mercedes are going for their fifth successive Monaco win, with Hamilton triumphant last year after three victories in succession for now-retired champion Nico Rosberg. The title duel, in the sixth and slowest round of the championship, will also be about absent friends and returning heroes. Jenson Button, the 2009 world champion who called it a day last year, will be filling in for Spaniard Fernando Alonso at McLaren while the double champion takes on the Indianapolis 500 on the same weekend.

Mario Andretti sees familiar spark in Fernando Alonso at Indy

INDIANAPOLIS - Mario Andretti sees the same spark in Fernando Alonso that drove him to take on all comers at race tracks around the world and said he believes the Spaniard is a threat to win the Indianapolis 500. Alonso set the motor racing world abuzz last month when he said he had been granted clearance by his McLaren Formula One team to miss the Monaco Grand Prix and race in the 101st 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. While Graham Hill is the only driver to achieve the feat, Andretti also stands alone as the only driver to win a Formula One world championship, an Indianapolis 500 and Daytona 500. "I embraced the challenges that's why I did it because I was curious," Andretti told Reuters before Alonso settled into the cockpit of an IndyCar for the first time on Wednesday. "Some drivers are very happy specializing. I wasn't. "I see the same spark in Alonso. "I commend him for doing this. I know how he feels because this was always my challenge to go into somebody else's sandbox and see if I could win at their own game. "There's nothing better than that." Despite Alonso having won 32 grands prix and two drivers championships, the 35-year-old was required to undergo IndyCar's rookie orientation program on Wednesday in order to get used to the unique environment of oval racing at the famed 2.5 mile (4km) Brickyard course. "Here you have constant high speed on a super speedway and it is incredibly different from what his (Alonso's) specialty is which is basically road racing," added Andretti. "It's not that he is going to be foreign to 220 mph plus but what he is going to be foreign to is cornering at 220mph plus. "That's the part that obviously he is going to have to deal with and learn how to approach it." McLaren will enter the race with a Honda-engined Indy car run by Andretti Autosport, owned by former McLaren driver Michael Andretti, who put together a detailed game plan for Alonso that began in a simulator. Alonso impressed on Wednesday as he quickly got up to speed with a fastest lap of 222.548 mph (356.825 kph) but Andretti said there was still a lot for him to learn. "As you get closer to qualifying then he is going to have to start flirting with the limit of the car. That's when it gets precarious," said Andretti. "At these speeds when you're flirting with the limits of the car and ready to go then you have to have a pretty good feel.

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.

Check out the orange McLaren-Honda racecar that might actually win a race

Following the announcement that Fernando Alonso, two-time F1 world champion, would drive a McLaren-Honda IndyCar in this year's Indianapolis 500, we now get to see the car. Naturally, being a McLaren, it's painted in the company's official orange hue. It's actually even more orange than the company's Formula 1 cars, which are two-tone: orange and black. The reveal of the car's livery comes in conjunction with Alonso's first testing day at the Indianapolis Speedway, which you can watch live, here. Alonso has never participated in the Indy 500 before, nor has he been behind the wheel of Indy cars. That doesn't mean he can't win, though. Fellow Formula 1 racer Alexander Rossi took home the win last year, and that was his first time at the 500. Rossi also won in an Andretti-backed, Honda-powered car, just as Alonso will this year. So it isn't unreasonable to think Alonso could win, or at least place well. Certainly his odds are better than driving one of the beleaguered McLaren-Honda F1 cars at Monaco that same weekend. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

The unbelievable everyday supercar | 2017 McLaren 720S First Drive

The McLaren 720S goes around a racetrack the way the Earth goes around the sun, inasmuch as the numbers involved are very difficult to comprehend. The Earth is very large, and the sun is even larger and very far away, such that a relative speed of 67,000 miles per hour seems crazy but is barely noticeable. The McLaren, however, puts you in a more immediate frame of reference, such that everything pertaining to its speed is not just noticeable, but alarming. The 720S is so fast that there's no warming up to it. Almost immediately you're driving at speeds that, in pretty much any other car would mean imminent calamity. Even the non-alarming voice the driving coach in the passenger seat uses to tell you to go faster seems alarming. Best of all, though, McLaren reminds you that rewards come with skill, not just speed, which is weird for a car this fast. You can't just point the steering wheel, mash the gas and let the electronics sort everything out. You have to, you know, actually drive, paying close attention to weight transfer and smooth inputs. That also sounds weird, but it's rare these days. In our world of point-and-shoot supercars, McLaren made the 720S a true driver's car. So, how did we get here? In brief, after dipping a toe in the carmaking pool with the McLaren F1 in 1992 and the Mercedes-McLaren SLR in 2003, racing juggernaut McLaren started McLaren Automotive in 2010 and got into the business full time. That lead to the MP4-12C (later just 12C), P1, and eventually the three-tier Sport, Super, and Ultimate series lineup present today. The 720S sits in the middle, replacing the 650S and 675LT. Since the start, McLaren has launched at least one new model or derivative every year. So expect a variant of the 720S in 2018. This is the first of McLaren's second-generation regular production cars. It uses a carbon-fiber underbody the company calls Monocage II, an evolution of the P1's monocoque that replaces the previous carbon fiber tub. It has all the things that come with structural evolution: light weight, lower side sills, higher rigidity. The new carbon monocoque also results in amazing rear visibility, thanks to a C-pillar located at the far edge of the car, bolstered by another thin strip of carbon fiber with glass covering the space in between. Visibility also benefits from the fighter-jet profile of the 720S. The wedge-shape of the previous McLarens gives way to a canopy-like roof that recalls cars like the Pagani Zonda or original Acura NSX.

See the evolution of McLaren F1 cars in one GIF

If you dig racecars and history, you'll enjoy the .gif file on display below. It comes to us from the folks at automotive parts website PartCatalog.com, and it shows how McLaren's Formula 1 cars have changed from the very first one to this season's black and orange Honda-powered machine. And they have certainly changed. That very first car had scarcely an aerodynamic aid to the radically winged racer of today.It's also interesting to see how driver positioning has changed over the years. Through the '70s and '80s, the driver was pushed farther and farther to the front. Then in the '90s and '00s, the driver started to be pushed back to the middle, and longer noses became common. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. This .gif file isn't just interesting for seeing how the cars have changed, though. It also features some of the most famous F1 cars of all time. Fans of vintage F1 racing and of the film Rush may recognize the McLaren M23 James Hunt piloted to a championship victory over rival Nicki Lauda in 1976. There's also the 1985 McLaren MP4/2B that was the last McLaren Nicki Lauda would drive, and the car that would take Alain Prost to a championship. Prost's rival Ayrton Senna also has a car in this .gif, and that's the 1988 Honda-powered car he drove to his first ever championship. There are many other cars in this .gif we don't have time to cover though, but you can learn more about them and the cars we mentioned by checking out McLaren's great history page. Each car there has a brief profile covering the stats, and lengthier articles with more background. It's a great way to spend a morning. Related Video:

Buy a McLaren P1 GTR, Porsche 918 Spyder, and a Ferrari LaFerrari all in one place

The McLaren P1, Porsche 918 Spyder, and Ferrari LaFerrari, are arguably the three greatest hypercars yet. Of course, their extremely limited production meant that some ultra-wealthy individuals may have missed out on picking one up. In fact, to get a LaFerrari, you needed to have owned a certain number of Ferraris, and be in good graces with the company. However, if there are any super-rich car enthusiasts reading this right now, your chance to buy one or all of these three supercars is coming up next month at the RM Sotheby's Villa Erba auction in Italy. It will occur on May 27, and feature a McLaren P1 GTR, Porsche 918 Spyder Weissach, and Ferrari LaFerrari. 2016 McLaren P1 GTR McLaren fans, will RM Sotheby's won't offering just any McLaren P1, but rather the hardcore, track-prepped GTR variant. In fact, the GTR is so hardcore that it isn't legal for the street. This particular version went to specialist Lanzante to be converted for road use. Take note that it's only road legal in the UK, and it may not meet laws for other countries. However, that's still more than most GTRs can boast, and if you have the money for this, you shouldn't have any issue taking it to the UK to unleash the P1 GTR's 986 horsepower on public roads. This car could use some driving, too, as it only has about 223 miles on it, some of which included just one track event. RM Sotheby's expects this McLaren to go for between $3.4 million and $3.85 million. 2015 Porsche 918 Spyder Weissach View 31 Photos The Porsche 918 Spyder going up for auction is a special one as well. The first difference you'll notice is that it has been painted a custom color called "Arrow Blue," a hue specially mixed up as part of Porsche's custom paint service. It also features the lightweight Weissach package, which loses a few extra pounds by replacing an assortment of parts for lighter components. Among them are magnesium wheels and wheel bearings, carbon fiber roof, windshield frame, rear fenders, and rear view mirrors, and even titanium-backed brake pads. According to RM Sotheby's those pads have been replaced with fresh 918-spec pieces. The previous owner clearly enjoyed his or her 918, as it has just over 6,800 miles. In case you're interested in a well-loved 918, the auction house expects it to sell for just under $1.3 million to about $1.5 million.

Jenson Button returns to F1 at Monaco while Fernando Alonso drives at Indy

MANAMA (Reuters) - Britain's Jenson Button will stand in for Fernando Alonso at next month's Monaco Formula One Grand Prix while the Spaniard competes in the Indianapolis 500 on the same day, McLaren announced on Friday. "I'm thrilled to be making a one-off return to Formula One racing, and I couldn't think of a better place to make that return than my adopted home Grand Prix: Monaco," the 37-year-old said in a statement at the Bahrain Grand Prix. Monaco resident Button handed over his McLaren seat to Belgian rookie Stoffel Vandoorne at the end of last season but remained under contract to the team with the possibility of returning in 2018. He won the showcase race in 2009 on his way to the title with Brawn GP. Honda-powered McLaren have endured a tough start to the season, with no points from two races, but Monaco's tricky street circuit could suit their car better and is also one where drivers can make the difference. Button will be the most experienced driver in the race as he makes his 306th start, with the Briton third in the all-time list behind the retired Rubens Barrichello and Michael Schumacher. He is also the last driver to win a race for McLaren, in Brazil in 2012, but cannot hope for such success this time. FAVORITE TRACK "It's one of my all-time favorite racetracks," said the winner of 15 grands prix who made his Formula One debut 17 years ago with Williams. "OK, I realize we won't have a realistic chance of repeating my 2009 victory, but I think we'll have an opportunity to score world championship points, which will be very valuable to the team in terms of constructors' rankings. "As for Fernando, I hope he not only fares well at Indy but enjoys it too." McLaren announced earlier in the week that double world champion Alonso would compete at Indianapolis with a car run by Andretti Autosport, last year's winners. McLaren racing director Eric Boullier said Button, who has kept his fitness up by competing in triathlons, would spend time in the team's simulator but there was no need for him to join an in-season test in Bahrain next week. "I rang him and his first reaction was, 'Great, I'm so excited," said the Frenchman of their short conversation after initial text exchanges. "You could feel the excitement on the phone was real. "Jenson was the choice from day one, the obvious choice by far," he told reporters.