Category: McLaren

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McLaren

McLaren P13 on sale by early 2015

McLaren MP4-12C

The McLaren P13 will be the company’s entry-level model, sitting beneath the 12C. According to Auto Express the P13 will make its show debut in late 2014 before going on sale in early 2015.

Expected to be lighter than the 1434kg 12C, the P13 will use the now familiar 3.8 litre V8 twin turbo. Power will be restricted to around 335kW, well below the 460kW (625PS) found in the 12C.

Keeping a mid-engine layout the P13 will be rear-wheel drive only and is said to target the all-wheel drive Porsche 911 Turbo. Although, with its power being sent only to the rear don’t expect the P13 to match the 3.1 second 0–100km/h time achieved by the 911 Turbo.

UK pricing for the P13 is tipped to be around £120,000 which is line ball with, you guessed it, the 911 Turbo and £50K less than the 12C.

[Source: Auto Express]

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2013 Indian Grand Prix in pictures

2013 Indian Grand Prix

Hats off to Sebastian Vettel, this gallery from the Indian Grand Prix is all about celebrating his achievements. There’s still heaps of photos from the rest of the field, of course. But it’s not every day a 26-year-old is crowned a four-time Formula 1 world champion and so we begin with a large sample from Red Bull’s media collection.

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McLaren

Rumour: McLaren P1 laps Nürburgring in 6:47

McLaren P1

As you know the McLaren P1 has been sighted at the Nürburgring recently. And earlier this week performance figures for the hybrid hypercar were confirmed, with one notable omission: it’s Nordschleife lap time.

A new spy video (see below) alleges the P1 has lapped the Nürburgring in 6 minutes 47 seconds. We’re not taking that as gospel until McLaren themselves make an official statement, but we do concede such a time from the 908hp petrol-electric weapon is feasible.

A 6:47 lap time would undercut the road-ready Porsche 918 by 10 seconds and matches the track-only Pagani Zonda R.

Watching the tail end of this video also gives some idea as to what an annoyance amateur spy photographers must be at times for manufacturers going about their daily work.

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McLaren

McLaren confirms P1 performance figures

McLaren P1

The first McLaren P1 was driven away by its proud owner at the end of September. Now, McLaren figures it’s time to publish the claimed performance stats for its latest and greatest hybrid hypercar.

If they chose, instead of a heap of numbers, McLaren could have simply said, “It’s bloody fast!”

Try these numbers on for size: the standing quarter mile is done in just 9.8 seconds and the P1 crosses the line at a staggering 245km/h. The 100km/h dash is dispensed with in a paltry 2.8 seconds, 200km/h in 6.8 seconds and 300 clicks will whiz by in 16.5 seconds—that’s 5.5 seconds faster than the legendary McLaren F1 road car.

When you’ve got 903hp to play with you may as well use it!

Production of the P1 will eventually max out at one car per day and the last of the 375 brutal sounding hypercars is scheduled to depart the McLaren Technology Centre in the middle of 2015.

The P1 looks like it will redefine a whole bunch of numbers. Although, given the recent sightings, a Nürburgring lap time is conspicuous by its absence in the press release below. Saving it for later, or is it not quite as quick as the Porsche 918?

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McLaren

McLaren P1 returns to chase Nürburgring glory

McLaren P1

McLaren is chasing lap record glory at the Nürburgring, with this P1 hypercar seen in full attack mode on the Nordschleife on Wednesday.

In early September a rumoured lap time of 7:04 was posted by the hybrid McLaren. Even if true, for two reasons, it’s not fast enough. Firstly, Ron Dennis has said the P1 will break the 7-minute barrier at the famous track. And secondly, Porsche has since published video of its 918 lapping the Ring in 6:57.

Officially, a McLaren spokesman said the ‘XP2R’ P1 was at the Green Hell, “for final damper tuning and calibration—our engineers and technicians are never happy, despite what they’ve achieved”.

However, those trackside during the week reported the presence of a sizeable pit crew with representatives from Pirelli on site as well. The P1 rides on specially developed Pirelli tyres tailored to suit the car’s performance and handling characteristics.

One thing is sure, the dick waving we’re going to see from Porsche, McLaren and Ferrari over who has the fastest hybrid hypercar on the planet is going to be fun to watch. So, strap yourself in and enjoy the show.

[Source: Car]

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Formula 1 Honda McLaren

Listen to Honda’s 2015 F1 engine

Apparently this YouTube video gives us an early preview of what Honda’s 2015 Formula 1 engine will sound like. We’re not totally convinced of its accuracy, so perhaps treat it as part entertainment value for now.

Remember, next year F1 will switch to 1.6 litre turbocharged V6 engines and Honda will reunite with McLaren for the 2015 season.

This is the second audio preview we’ve been given of F1’s new world order after Mercedes AMG published an audio clip back in August.

UPDATE 18 October: Sounds like the above audio clip was fair dinkum after all, as this official clip from Honda (below) shows.

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2013 Japanese Grand Prix in pictures

2013 Japanese Grand Prix

On the surface Sebastian Vettel’s win at the Japanese Grand Prix looked to be a solid victory crafted with determination and a solid strategy. The conspiracy theorists out there would suggest Red Bull’s decision to keep Vettel on a two-stop strategy, while switching Mark Webber to a three-stopper, was all about providing an opportunity for Seb to forge a win from third place, while harming Mark’s chances of a first win for season 2013.

Certainly, Vettel’s own radio calls late in the race asking the team to keep Mark away from him would lend support to that theory. But former Red Bull driver David Coulthard is having none of that, suggesting if it were true that Mark would be telling the world all about it.

All we can do is wonder what would have happened if Mark was able to bully his way past Romain Grosjean with the effectiveness which Vettel did. Instead, it took Mark seven laps to find a way around the Lotus driver by which time any chance of a challenge to Vettel’s lead had been lost.

Which means our regular F1 pictorial update gives us yet another opportunity to look at that bloody finger!

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Ferrari Formula 1 McLaren

Emerson Fittipaldi on the 1976 Japanese GP

1976 Japanese Grand Prix

Former McLaren F1 driver and 1974 World Champion, Emerson Fittipaldi, gives us a fascinating insight into the 1976 Japanese Grand Prix courtesy of a blog shared on the McLaren website. Of course, the season-ending race at Fuji Speedway has become the focus of mainstream attention thanks to Ron Howard’s F1 movie Rush.

The conditions for that race, the first Formula 1 Grand Prix in Asia, were appalling as Fittipaldi explains:

On race day, though, everything we’d learned over the past few days became irrelevant as the heavens opened. Never before or since, in my entire racing career, have I known rain quite as fierce. The circuit was totally flooded, its flat wide asphalt covered in lakes of sitting water. It was patently unsafe. In those days we used to do a morning warm-up on race day—and the accidents that marred the Fuji warm-up made it very clear that the rain had made the circuit quite undriveable.

Fittipaldi goes on to share his thoughts over the decision to start the race, even though conditions had not improved after a 90-minute delay. He also discusses many other aspects about his F1 career and gives a big vote of confidence to Rush as well. We recommend you take the time to read his words (follow the source link below).

[Source: McLaren]

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2013 Korean Grand Prix in pictures

2013 Korean Grand Prix

While even his fellow drivers may be booing Sebastian Vettel’s latest win at the Korean Grand Prix, the race itself is under threat. Partly because of poor attendance and also due to the promise of a bumper 22-race calendar that nobody wants. One thing is sure, Mark Webber has plenty of fans in Korea, as you’ll see in the pics below.

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Ferrari Formula 1 McLaren

Here’s your recap of the 1976 Formula 1 season

Dickie Davies, ITV

To help get you in the mood for Ron Howard’s F1 movie Rush, here’s a recap of the 1976 Formula 1 season as presented by Dickie Davies on ITV ahead of the title-deciding Japanese Grand Prix.

After watching this it’s easy to see the appeal for Ron Howard to turn this story into big budget movie. The season had everything, speed, danger, explosions, sex, protests and, of course, an unpredictable climax.

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Formula 1 McLaren

VIDEO: Spirit of McLaren

Spirit of McLaren

The McLaren Formula 1 team is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and this short video has captured the spirit of Bruce McLaren and the all-conquering racing team he began. Below we list the world titles McLaren has won in F1:

  • Emerson Fittipaldi (1974)
  • James Hunt (1976)
  • Niki Lauda (1984)
  • Alain Prost (1985, 1986, 1989)
  • Ayrton Senna (1988, 1990, 1991)
  • Mika Hakkinen (1998, 1999)
  • Lewis Hamilton (2008)
  • Constructors’ Championships (1974, 1984, 1985, 1988-91, 1998)
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Formula 1 McLaren

Tooned 50: The James Hunt Story

Tooned 50: The James Hunt Story

Last year we brought your attention to McLaren’s animated series Tooned, showcasing the exploits of their Formula 1 team. The series is still running and the Woking wonders have immersed themselves in a bit of fantasy by celebrating the life and times of James Hunt. Of course, there’s not so subtle references to Ron Howard’s F1 movie Rush which opens in cinemas across Australia tomorrow.

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