Vodafone UK’s latest video promotion sees McLaren drivers Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton build a Formula One car. Obvious pranks and comments are made; it’s still a bit of a giggle and shows, despite the common belief, the team at McLaren actually have a sense of humour.
Check the clip after the jump.
The 2010 Canadian Formula One Grand Prix saw a second consecutive one-two victory for the McLaren team. Lewis Hamilton started from pole and, despite a margin of just over two seconds from second placed Jenson Button, he won the race in reasonable comfort in the end. That doesn’t tell the whole story, though.
After qualifying on the soft “option” tyres it was expected Hamilton would come under pressure from the two Red Bull Racing cars, with both Webber and Vettel on the harder, more durable “prime” tyres. As it was Webber was penalised five grid places after having a gearbox change following qualifying.
But the real story of the race was the rate at which the tyres wore across the board. The prime tyres wore out quickly, as expected. However, the prime tyres also wore much quicker than predicted which meant most teams made two pitstops for a second set of prime tyres.
With no mechanical failures or accident carnage at the head of the field it was a reasonably close and exciting race. In the end, Hamilton won the day ahead of teammate Jenson Button and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso.
Hamilton now leads the drivers standings on 109 points. Button is in second (106pts) and after relinquishing his title lead Mark Webber is close behind in third place (103pts). McLaren maintain their lead in the constructors race with 215 points ahead of Red Bull (193pts) and Ferrari (161pts).
Over 60 photos from Montreal are all yours after the jump and simply click on the pics you like to load a 2000px super image.
McLaren are pushing their MP4-12C supercar pretty hard. And that’s not pushing the performance envelope, either. While they are doing that, no doubt, they are also hyping this car and making sure it remains at the forefront of everyone’s mind. Remember, the 12C isn’t due for customer deliveries until early 2011 (or possibly late 2010).
The most recent method of hyping the 12C is to launch a configurator on the McLaren website. It’s just a bit of hit and giggle at the moment, especially as no pricing has been announced. However, it is quite a bit of fun. You can select paint colour, minor exterior trim detail as well as wheel and brake packages. Inside you can fiddle around with seat fabric colour and infotainment equipment. Oh, the track data option is a must, naturally.
More pics and a press statement after the jump. Including the obligatory opportunity to roll out Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.
After the press release I’ve also included a few screen grabs of my preferred option. It’s got Titanium Silver exterior colour, with super-lightweight forged alloys. There’s carbon ceramic brakes, too, with the calipers painted in McLaren Orange. And to set it off on the inside there’s a mix of leather and alcantara. What do you think? Let us know your options in the comments section below.
Formula One world champions Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton recently got their hands on a pair of prototype McLaren MP4-12Cs and were given an empty Goodwood track to test the car. With a 3.8 litre V8 ‘M838T’ engine producing 600bhp and an impressive 600Nm of torque, coupled to a, F1-like Seamless Shift Gearbox with seven gears, the lads were sure to have some fun.
Given their current employment status it’s no surprise that Button and Hamilton reckon the 12C is a tidy bit of kit. Jenson exclaims, “I was amazed by the car’s great stability at high speeds. It’s very quick in a straight line, too. In fact, the biggest problem with driving this car on a circuit is that sometimes you forget it’s a road car!”Meanwhile, Lewis says, “The 12C is a real driver’s car; it delivered on all my expectations. The visibility is great from the driver’s seat. You really appreciate that in tight corners. I loved the McLaren F1 when I drove it and, like that car, the huge front windscreen of the 12C allows you to take in all the information needed for perfect lines through apex turns.”
By the time the MP4-12C goes into final production more than 50 engineers will have driven 40-plus development cars in excess of 1,000,000 miles. That’s a lot of testing. Around 12 venues were used for testing, including the Top Gear test track and the Nürburgring Nordschleife. The 12C has also been pushed to extremes of another kind by being tested at temperatures of -50°C and +50°C.
There’s more after the break, including video of Jenson and Lewis at the wheel of the MP4-12C.
McLaren have just launched their new website for the 2010 Formula One season. As you would expect there’s lots of bells and whistles, perfectly placed logos and a general order about the way things are done.
There’s some good info on the team’s 2010 challenger, the MP4-25, as well as the drivers, reigning World Champion Jenson Button and former champ Lewis Hamilton.
One item really worth checking out during the year is the McLaren Race 1.0b feature that will provide fans with live GPS-supported coverage of qualifying and races. Telemetry and commentary will also be available. Sounds very much worth a look when the F1 circus hits the track in Bahrain. Not long to go now!
[Source: mclaren.com]
Watchmaker TAG Heuer has created this spliced video featuring Steve McQueen and Lewis Hamilton to promote its new Monaco 360 LS range. Titled “The Duel” the ad centres around footage from the 1971 film Le Mans, in which McQueen wore an original TAG Monaco.
It’s cheesy, it’s a bit naff, but the watches are tres cool. I think I prefer the original. What about you?
The ad can be viewed after the jump.
[Source: Watch Happening via Fourtitude]
Team Vodafone McLaren Mercedes launched the title defence of Lewis Hamilton’s world championship by revealing their 2009 car, the MP4-24. This is the first McLaren to wear the number 1 since Mika Hakkinen in 2000, following his 1999 championship.
With limits on in-season development during the 2009 season, Ron Dennis explains some of the challenges in building the car, “The biggest problem is the concept of the car because if you have the wrong concept you are locked into an uncompetitive car.”
Lewis Hamilton is refreshed heading into the new season, “I feel more relaxed going into the season simply because I’m come off a great season. I feel I have reset my goals, and reset my targets back to when I started in Formula One. I want to be world champion. I don’t sit here saying I am world champion; I sit here saying I want to be world champion.”
Heikki Kovalainen, too, is ready for the challenges ahead, “Well obviously there are many big changes coming to the season and there are still a few unknown things like the qualifying format that could spice up the things. But I think it is a big challenge for everybody. The cars will feel a little bit different and we need to adjust and adapt the driving style a little bit. Maybe the set-up will be a little bit different, and there are a lot of questions we need to answer before Melbourne.”
More images below and full media access on the launch of the MP4-24 is available at the McLaren website.
Formula One seasons usually have everything. Excitement, high drama, controversy, and tears. Lots of tears. On that front, 2008 delivered one of the most dramatic seasons in recent times. There was pit lane mayhem, wet weather mayhem and post race results mayhem. It was also the first season to see a race held at night under artifical light. And, of course, the last race seemed to fit almost all of these things into one single event.
If Al Gore used to be the next President of the United States, then Felipe Massa used to be Formula One’s next World Champion. A title he held, provisionally, for less than one minute. That was all the time Lewis Hamilton needed to claim the extra point he needed to secure his first F1 title. It truly was an amazing climax to an amazing season.
This clip does a pretty good job of capturing the action, the drama and, ultimately, that final lap euphoria.
UPDATE 16 December: Looks like Bernie pulled the plug on this compilation.
UPDATE 19 December: Thanks to Matt for the YouTube find (while it lasts).
The 2008 Race of Champions is being held at Wembley Stadium this weekend. To help get you in the mood, here is a clip of last year’s final, featuring Germany’s Michael Schumacher (you may have heard of him) and Sweden’s Mattias Ekström. Finally something that Schumacher didn’t win!
For more info on the 2008 happenings, check out the official Race of Champions website. If you’re not familiar with the concept, the event takes a bunch of the world’s best drivers/riders from across the major motorspot disciplines and pits them against each other in equal machinery.
This event will also be Lewis Hamilton’s first public official McLaren appearance since winning the F1 world title. To celebrate he’ll be giving his F1 car a few beans around the track, as well as racing Olympic cycling Gold medallist Chris Hoy.
Canberra’s own Mark Webber was scheduled to take part in this event, but when the Queanbeyan driver broke his leg, he had to withdraw.
This is a Mobil 1 promo clip where Lewis Hamilton strings together his favourite corners from Formula One circuits around the world to form his own “Supercircuit”. Famous corners such as Spa’s Eau Rouge and Monaco’s Casino are featured, but there’s nothing from Melbourne’s Albert Park track. There’s also some gumpf from Mobil about their oil and the stresses it goes through during the lap.
A free plug for Mobil then, but it’s an interesting enough clip.
(Thanks to WorldCarFans for posting the clip on YouTube and cheers to Dylan for the link.)
In case you’ve been hiding under a rock you’ll have heard that Lewis Hamilton was crowned Formula 1 World Champion yesterday in the most dramatic of circumstances. Needing to finish the race in the top five to fend off the points challenge from a dominant weekend by race winner, Ferrari’s Felipe Massa, Hamilton watched his title lead slip by when Sebastien Vettel relegated the Briton to sixth place with an overtaking move on the second last lap. This moment of high drama was only to be eclipsed by Timo Glock’s struggles in his Toyota on the last lap, which enabled both Vettel and Hamilton to pass and, crucially, slip Hamilton back into fifth position with just two corners remaining. And with that Lewis Hamilton won the 2008 F1 World Championship by the narrow margin of 5.4 seconds, the gap between himself and Glock back in sixth.
At the age of 23 years, 10 months and 26 days, Hamilton is the youngest champion in Formula 1 history. He is McLaren’s 12th drivers’ world title, the first since Mika Häkkinen’s back to back titles in 1998 and 1999.
Speaking after the race Hamilton was quick to acknowledge those who have assisted him throughout his career, “The most dramatic race of my whole life. It’s pretty much impossible to put this into words: I’m still speechless. It’s been such a long journey, but I’ve always had the support of my family, the team, our partners and the fans. We did a fantastic job throughout the whole year and, with all the sacrifices we made, I’m so thrilled to be able to win this for everyone.”
This weekend marks the last race in the 2008 Formula 1 calendar. Can Lewis Hamilton (94pts) maintain his seven point lead and claim his first World Championship? Or will Felipe Massa (87pts), in front of his home crowd in Brazil, snatch glory for Ferrari again, just as Raikonnen did in 2007? A win for Massa will take his season points tally to 97. So, can Hamilton finish in fifth place or better and earn the four points he needs to secure the title? Will McLaren play it safe and try to guide Lewis to a reliable points finish. Or will Hamilton, a racer at heart, chase the ultimate success, victory in the last race to claim the championship? So many questions, but only one answer will matter. It’s a shame that we have to wait until 4am Monday (AEDST) to find out!
David Coulthard will start his 246th and final Grand Prix on Sunday, so it is fitting that he talks us through a lap of the Interlagos circuit (graphic sourced from Telegraph.co.uk).