Tag: McLaren

One-make McLaren Trophy America series to launch in 2025

McLaren Motorsport has announced that it is launching a new single-make championship for the North American market: McLaren Trophy America, which will make its debut in 2025. This marks an expansion of McLaren’s single-make racing presence with its …

McLaren Motorsport has announced that it is launching a new single-make championship for the North American market: McLaren Trophy America, which will make its debut in 2025.

This marks an expansion of McLaren’s single-make racing presence with its Artura Trophy race car, following the maiden McLaren Trophy Europe season in 2023.

McLaren Trophy America will be run on the same principles as its European counterpart, as a series that aims to develop Pro-Am driver pairings, with an emphasis on Bronze-rated drivers.

Developed for one-make competition, the Artura Trophy shares similar DNA with the Artura road car, including its lightweight chassis and twin-turbo V6 engine. A thoroughbred racer, it features a suite of track-focused performance upgrades which McLaren says amounts to a package that can produce lap times “within just three seconds of a GT3 car.”

In addition, teams with existing 570S Trophy cars are also eligible for the series and will compete for class wins and championships. Just like Artura Trophy runners, they will receive full support from McLaren Customer Racing, with replacement parts and technical backup available at every round.

All cars in McLaren Trophy America will be run by independent teams and race with tires from Pirelli.

“Following the successful debut of McLaren Trophy Europe in 2023, we are delighted to confirm that the championship is being expanded with the new McLaren Trophy America championship in 2025,” said Mick McDonagh, the director of MSO and Motorsport at McLaren Automotive. “This region represents McLaren Automotive’s biggest market and has a diverse and vibrant motorsport culture, including a strong GT racing contingent that we are proud to be part of.

“We’re looking forward to welcoming members of the extended McLaren family as well as new competitors from the American continents and we hope to one day see some of them compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA championships with McLaren GT racing products.”

The inaugural season will consist of 10 races across five race weekends at “iconic U.S. circuits.” The weekend format will feature over four hours of track time, including two races of 50 minutes in duration that require mandatory pit stops for driver changes.

Full details of the 2025 race calendar will be released later this year.

McLaren sees gains for all, but the most for Red Bull

McLaren’s data suggests all of the Formula 1 teams have made a step forward ahead of the 2024 season, but singles out Red Bull as the only team to make significant progress. The opening day of pre-season testing in Bahrain saw Max Verstappen set the …

McLaren’s data suggests all of the Formula 1 teams have made a step forward ahead of the 2024 season, but singles out Red Bull as the only team to make significant progress.

The opening day of pre-season testing in Bahrain saw Max Verstappen set the pace by over a second, and complete significant mileage in an ominous start. Day two provided a different picture on the timing screens, with Carlos Sainz 2.5s quicker than Verstappen’s time, and 0.75s ahead of Sergio Perez but having used the softer C4 tire.

For McLaren, the second day yielded the fourth-fastest time with Lando Norris and team principal Andrea Stella says the signs from its car are good, but sees a bigger gap to Red Bull emerging.

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“In terms of report from the two days, I would say that starting from a performance point of view, the car delivers what we expected,” Stella said. “No big surprises — which in itself is some good news, because there are some elements of innovation in the car. So we wanted to see how they would have worked trackside, and they seem in line with expectations.

“I think the car is a good foundation for development — it’s a step forward compared to last year’s car. But overall, I can see that many cars have made a step forward, which is normal. Everyone finds performance in every week of development.

“There’s one car that seems to have found a big step — unfortunately, the car that was already the quickest last year. Some cars, I would say the group was already quite compact last year and, to me, it looks even more compact this year. That’s what we have learned from a competitiveness point of view.

“Otherwise, apart from this little setback on the fuel system, it’s been a relatively smooth session. Oscar [Piastri] and Lando could learn everything pretty much we could learn in a couple of days; a bit more to do tomorrow, especially for Oscar who has run the afternoon session. There’s quite a bit to cash in because clearly the track improves dramatically from like four o’clock onwards, and what you do in the morning session is relevant but not fully representative.”

Explaining the interruption to Norris’ running, Stella says investigations will need to take place to understand the cause of the reliability issue.

“We had to check something in the fuel tank this afternoon. It allowed us to run while we were starting race simulation, but actually we needed to stop the race simulation, so we didn’t bring this achievement home today, because we needed to get into the fuel system. We changed some parts and the car was in condition to go again. So, a little setback but we have identified and will look into what the exact reason is.”

McLaren unveils FIA WEC GT3 liveries

The livery for United Autosports’ pair of FIA World Endurance Championship LMGT3 class McLaren 720S GT3 EVOs has been revealed ahead of the Qatar Prologue test on Feb. 24-25. The 720S GT3s, which are numbered 59 and 95 in recognition of McLaren’s Le …

The livery for United Autosports’ pair of FIA World Endurance Championship LMGT3 class McLaren 720S GT3 EVOs has been revealed ahead of the Qatar Prologue test on Feb. 24-25.

The 720S GT3s, which are numbered 59 and 95 in recognition of McLaren’s Le Mans win for the No. 59 car in 1995, will run in a papaya and black livery. The color scheme features nods to the past and remains consistent with the brand’s Formula 1 and IndyCar designs.

“This is a proud moment, unveiling the new look of McLaren on its return to Le Mans and the WEC,” said United Autosports CEO Richard Dean. “The design has racing heritage at its core, harking back to the 1995 Le Mans winner, while being unmistakably part of the current McLaren family. It’s an exciting addition to the 2024 McLaren lineup, complimenting the Formula 1, IndyCar and Formula E designs; they look like winning cars, and we have big ambitions.”

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The 2024 season will be the first time McLaren will contest all three of motor racing’s ‘triple crown” of the Monaco Grand Prix, Indianapolis 500 and Le Mans in the same season, though it will not compete for the overall win at La Sarthe in the FIA WEC.

“We are proud to present the 720S GT3 EVO in conjunction with our racing partner United Autosports ahead of our WEC debut in Qatar with an exciting driver lineup,” Michael Leiters, CEO, McLaren Automotive. “Racing is intrinsic to the McLaren brand and the WEC is the perfect arena to demonstrate the performance capabilities of our supercar engineering programs. We are also pleased to celebrate our victory in the iconic 24 Hours of Le Mans with our livery, which is a hugely important part of McLaren history.”

 

 

McLaren developments could put pressure on Red Bull – Stella

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella believes Red Bull could be put under pressure once new developments are added to the MCL38 during the 2024 season. The 2024 car was launched on Wednesday ahead of a shakedown at Silverstone, and will then head to …

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella believes Red Bull could be put under pressure once new developments are added to the MCL38 during the 2024 season.

The 2024 car was launched on Wednesday ahead of a shakedown at Silverstone, and will then head to Bahrain ahead of pre-season testing, but in his press release quotes Stella warned some innovations were not ready for the launch specification of car. As a result, he believes the gap to Red Bull will be tough to instantly close, but is bridgeable over the course of the year given the development rate McLaren has been on up to now.

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“I think at the start of the season my expectation is that Red Bull will keep enjoying some advantage,” Stella said. “I say this because they didn’t develop the car very much last year, and I would think it’s reasonable to expect that they will have accumulated some knowledge and development last year that will be capitalized on to the 2024 car. That’s my expectation.

“That said, I think that looking at ourselves, if — and I say if — we keep the development rate that we had in 2023…then I think we can be in a strong position.

“Whether that’s enough to challenge Red Bull and the other top teams, who certainly will have made good improvements, we will find out. We think this is a strong development rate, but as I said now it’s up to us to try and consolidate over time.”

Stella says there is no concern over the fact some parts were not ready for the car that will run at testing, and that McLaren won’t have to wait long to introduce them.

“These areas — rather than being specific I will keep it relatively general — but they effectively have to do with improving the aerodynamic performance, improving the mechanical side and the interaction with tires. So in all these three key areas.

“There’s a few projects that we had started and saw they had potential, but we just couldn’t finalize them in time to have it on the launch car so they will very likely become updates for the early part of the season.

“In terms of the innovations, I would say it’s not that the innovations didn’t make it, it’s more that some development projects didn’t make it. When you embark on some development projects, obviously you want to target them to deliver as soon as possible let’s say, but there’s full room in the way we have designed the car for these projects to land later on onto the car.

“There’s no restrictions from a layout point of view for some of them to become available. It’s just a matter of the time required for projects to mature and then be ready to be delivered.”

New McLaren MCL38 launched with ‘a number of innovations’

McLaren has launched its 2024 Formula 1 car – the MCL38 – that it says features “a number of innovations” but still has areas that it wants to address during the season. Last year, McLaren warned of issues with its launch-spec car and it started the …

McLaren has launched its 2024 Formula 1 car — the MCL38 — that it says features “a number of innovations” but still has areas that it wants to address during the season.

Last year, McLaren warned of issues with its launch-spec car and it started the season well off the pace before an excellent development program propelled it into contention for regular podiums, with Oscar Piastri securing a Sprint victory in Qatar. Although the team has been more confident in its development this winter, team principal Andrea Stella says there is more potential to come as the year unfolds.

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“The team are excited to present the MCL38 today and to see it on track for the first time,” Stella said. “Going into this year, we look to build on the momentum of last season but are realistic in the knowledge that every team will have made progress and found competitiveness for their 2024 cars. We now have everything in place from an infrastructure, people and culture perspective so we continue to push forward and build on the work done to get us back to front of the grid.

“Before we hit the track for competitive sessions, we have a lot of work to do, including putting the MCL38 through its paces during the Bahrain pre-season test. The team has done a good job over the winter, and we are confident we can hit the ground running, but we know we have important tasks at hand before the season starts.

“There are a number of innovations on the car, but not all the areas we want to address have been completed for our launch-spec car. Those areas now become the focus of our in-season development, which is already in progress.

“My thanks go to the entire team, both trackside and at MTC and MRC for their great efforts in ensuring the car was ready to hit the track today, as well as our colleagues at Mercedes HPP for their continued collaboration. We now turn our attention to the long season ahead as we look forward to Bahrain testing next week.”


McLaren will shake the MCL38 down at Silverstone on Wednesday as part of an initial short test, with a filming day expected to take place in Bahrain ahead of the pre-season test from Feb. 21-23.

“It’s awesome to be able to launch our 2024 competitor, the MCL38, at Silverstone today,” McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown said. “It’s great to see our new car in its 2024 livery on track and see the hard work and dedication of the team come together.

“The fantastic thing about this sport is how competitive it is, and therefore we must remain realistic as every team will have made progress in the offseason. The true test of whether we’ve made steps in the right direction will be qualifying in Bahrain. We’re all excited to go racing again, but we know there’s a long season ahead of us and a lot of work still to do to ensure we build on the progress we made throughout 2023.”

Cottingham moving up to WEC with United Autosports McLaren

James Cottingham is set to make his FIA World Endurance Championship debut this season, after signing with United Autosports to race one of its McLaren 720S GT3 EVOs in the new LMGT3 class. The 40-year-old joins the FIA WEC after a highly successful …

James Cottingham is set to make his FIA World Endurance Championship debut this season, after signing with United Autosports to race one of its McLaren 720S GT3 EVOs in the new LMGT3 class.

The 40-year-old joins the FIA WEC after a highly successful 2023 British GT Championship campaign, during which he won three races and finished on the podium a further two times with Mercedes customer 2 Seas Motorsport.

“I’m super excited to be working with McLaren Automotive, an iconic British manufacturer, and United Autosports, one of the highest-achieving teams at Le Mans in recent years,” said Cottingham. “It has been a dream of mine since I was a boy to race at Le Mans and compete in a world championship and after only two and a half years of racing in modern motorsport, I didn’t think I would get this opportunity.

“With everything I’ve done over the last two years including British GT, the Gulf 12 Hours, Spa 24 Hours and Dubai 24 Hours, I’m ready for this new challenge. I really enjoy driving the McLaren and am totally dedicated to the FIA World Endurance Championship this year.”

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Richard Dean, United’s CEO, says Cottingham — who is currently in the UAE racing a McLaren with Optimum Motorsport in the Asian Le Mans Series GT class — is a strong addition to the team’s LMGT3 lineup.

“He has captured attention with his achievements in British GT — a familiar series for United Autosports — and now we are looking forward to his WEC debut in the McLaren 720S GT3 Evo. The whole team is working incredibly hard to make our first race in Qatar a success. We are really looking forward to it.”

In the No. 59 McLaren, Cottingham will share the wheel with former F2 driver Gregoire Saucy and a third driver that the team is expected to announce soon.

This news comes before a final pre-season test at the Dubai Autodrome next week for the team, which will share the UAE circuit with Corvette customer team TF Sport.

NEOM McLaren confirms Ekstrom, Gutierrez for Extreme E

NEOM McLaren has made a statement of intent by signing Mattias Ekstrom and Cristina Gutierrez to drive for the team in Extreme E this season. McLaren been in the electric off-road series since 2022, but has so far failed to register a victory in its …

NEOM McLaren has made a statement of intent by signing Mattias Ekstrom and Cristina Gutierrez to drive for the team in Extreme E this season.

McLaren been in the electric off-road series since 2022, but has so far failed to register a victory in its 15 races to date. The team hopes to turn around its fortunes with the signing of Season 2 champion Gutierrez, and Ekstrom who came within a lap of taking the Season 3 crown last December.

“It’s massive. When they phoned me I couldn’t say no because it’s an historic team and it’s like a dream come true,” Gutierrez told RACER. ”Every driver in the world wants to be at McLaren one day, so it’s difficult to say no to this team.”

Ekstrom, who knows a thing or two about racing for the biggest names in the business, added, “It is pretty awesome. I have to say, papaya colors are pretty different. For a couple of years, since McLaren took this approach it’s been easy to recognize them.

“The first time I came here to Woking to visit, having a walk on the Boulevard, just to see in reality the heritage, is pretty amazing,” he said. “To see what McLaren has done in motorsport and also not only trophies but the certain style and the perfectionism they have, it’s quite cool to be a part of.

“With my little team, EKS, we were also trying to do things differently but I can see here is a totally different level and I’m also enjoying a lot to see and learn everything that is not only related to racing but also creating good content and storytelling, so I can enjoy a lot more in racing than not only driving the car.”

Gutierrez joins the team after three years with Lewis Hamilton’s X44 outfit. The first two of those seasons were spent driving alongside Sebastien Loeb, with the pair clinching the title in the final round of the 2022 campaign. Alongside Rosberg X Racing’s Johan Kristoffersson, Andretti duo Timmy Hansen and Catie Munnings, and Laia Sanz of Acciona Sainz, Gutierrez had been one of just a handful of drivers to stick with one team throughout the first three years of Extreme E.

“I’m used to driving with another team, with other mechanics, engineers and teammates, so it’s a challenge for me but it’s a big opportunity to run in this team,” she said. “It’s a big opportunity to share the team with another legend so I can’t wait to start the season and give to McLaren all that they gave to me.”

While it will be a new teammate for Gutierrez, Ekstom is no stranger with the pair having competed together in rally raid events. And he’s mightily impressed with his new colleague.

“I think she’s proven that she’s very smart and fast and she’s positioned herself as the number one female, for me, in motorsport. I don’t mean only Extreme E or Dakar, but as a whole,” Ekstrom said. “In the rally raid world I think she’s positioned herself well and has a proven record of doing smart things, so I’m looking forward to sharing a car with her and seeing if there’s something I can learn myself. But if she wants any advice, I’m happy to help and see if I can also help her to take one more step in her career.”

It’s an appreciation that’s reciprocated by Gutierrez. She knows all too well the value Ekstrom can bring to a team, having driven in a competition where many teams have been after his signature.

“He’s impressive. I’ve known for a long time that all the best teams in the Dakar want him to be on their team, because he improves the car a lot,” she said. “He’s behind the wheel all the time, competing in different [series] and it makes a big difference compared with somebody who maybe does only one or two races per year.

“Also, a good thing from Mattias is he came from rallycross and in this championship, in Extreme E, the starts are very important, so I’ll love to share the car with him.”

Both drivers join McLaren off the back of a strong Dakar rally where Gutierrez claimed overall victory in the Challenger (T3) category, while Ekstrom won the prologue and two stages with Audi before mechanical issues derailed a quest for a likely victory in the Ultimate (car) class.

“We have been very busy with our Dakar programs, both Cristina and myself,” Ekstrom said of both drivers’ start to life at McLaren. “We did the Morocco Rally, then it was fitness training, and then 10 days off before Dakar so there hasn’t been much preparation stuff going on.

“But we will have an event together as a crew prep, then it will also very soon start with all the regular setup, preparation, and operations about our weekend and all that — what I call the fun but boring stuff, breaking down the weekend in detail and seeing how good we can make it.”

Norris unsure how he and McLaren will react in a championship fight

Lando Norris admits he and his McLaren team haven’t fought for a championship in so long that he’s unsure how both would react if an upcoming car is capable of mounting a challenge. McLaren showed a clear step forward during the 2023 season, turning …

Lando Norris admits he and his McLaren team haven’t fought for a championship in so long that he’s unsure how both would react if an upcoming car is capable of mounting a challenge.

McLaren showed a clear step forward during the 2023 season, turning around a poor start to end the year in fourth in the constructors’ championship and enjoy a number of races as Red Bull’s closest challenger. Norris says that shows he’s with a team that has the potential to take the fight to Red Bull and Max Verstappen, but having not been in such a position since joining Formula 1 he admits both he and the team will need to learn how to handle that situation.

“It’s such a difficult question [if McLaren can win a title before 2026],” Norris said. “But with how we improved last year with the trajectory, with the knowledge of what we can further improve on with our learnings from last year… There was moments we were close to winning races last year, main races, and a few races we were not miles away from a Red Bull.

“And last year, when you think of it it was the most competitive cars ever in Formula 1, and a few races we were extremely, extremely close. So with the knowledge of if you want to win one race, we’re the closest we’ve ever been since I’ve been here at McLaren and for many, many years. But fighting for a championship is a bigger step.

“If you ask me do I think I can win races this year, I’d be more inclined to say yes, but to go straight into winning races and a championship, I think that’s another level. Both for myself — racing at the very top is not something I’ve necessarily done for a while — but also for the whole team, for everyone here at the factory, it’s a different kind of level and excitement; for mechanics, a different level of pressure and excitement.”

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Despite his reservations about what it would be like to fight for the title, Norris says he feels he has the skills to compete with the best and that McLaren has shown it is putting all the pieces in place to do the same.

“I think it’s just something you have to ask yourself every now and then, but do I think we’re ready to challenge them? Yeah absolutely. In those situations — and there’s opportunities where we’ve been fighting against Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, and going against them head to head in strategy, pit stops, all of those things — the majority of times we’ve executed them extremely well.

“So when it comes to pressure, I think everyone is in a very good position but as soon as you do mention fighting for a championship, everyone’s mentality just changes a little bit. I feel I’m ready to go against Max and Lewis [Hamilton] and fight against them, but it also just comes down to consistency and small decisions along the way, which are hard to predict when you’re going against these guys as you never know what their next move is and same thing they never know what your next move is.

“So, yeah, a championship? I dunno. As much as I’d love to say over the next two years, ’26 is an opportunity for everyone on the grid, so that’s the big big question mark, we see how we do this year and you can ask me that question again.”

Norris stands among world champions – Stella

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella says Lando Norris stands among the world champions he has worked with in the past, including Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso. Stella worked with both Schumacher and Alonso at Ferrari – where he also worked …

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella says Lando Norris stands among the world champions he has worked with in the past, including Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso.

Stella worked with both Schumacher and Alonso at Ferrari – where he also worked with Kimi Raikkonen – and then spent further time alongside Alonso and Jenson Button at McLaren. Now team principal at the latter, Stella has overseen the decision to secure Norris’ future until at least the end of 2026, and says he has the ability to join those other names as a world champion.

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“Lando definitely stands together with them,” Stella said. “It’s the same category, same kind of world championship material, the underlying talent, the mindset, the work ethos, it’s all ready to go.

“At the same time when you think about champions there’s a characteristics of champions, it’s they only get better. Real champions, they seem to just improve year by year, and I think that’s the case because they use their intelligence, their ethos, they get the best people around them, they do whatever it takes to get better and better because the sport gets only more and more competitive.

“So definitely we have all the raw material, which we saw already, when Lando was doing the free practice one with us, it was very evident in 2018, then it kept growing. It’s there, we just need to keep growing year after year, which every champion does, but we are extremely happy and committed to Lando in this respect.”

Norris says the atmosphere and comfort he feels within McLaren has allowed him to develop to this stage of his career, and played a major role in him wanting to remain with the team regardless of potential interest from elsewhere.

“I definitely always wanted to be convinced McLaren is my future,” Norris said. “Of course we’ve gone through some harder years recently, and things definitely didn’t pick up as much as we were hoping, between 20, 21, 22, beginning of 23. But also, a lot has changed.

“There are always going to be little things going on backwards and forwards between people. But in terms of keeping my concentration where it needs to be, which is just on the driving and continuing to focus on that [McLaren is best] – and especially with how we turned things around last year, and with what we know we can still achieve and do with even more things coming our way in terms of personnel and infrastructure. There’s still things which are coming online, and just getting warmed up.

“Considering we were able to do what we did last year, considering it’s a team I have been with since the beginning, it’s a team I want to continue my story with in terms of reaching my goal of winning races, and winning championships. McLaren is a team I want to do it with.

“They are the ones who have brought me into F1, they have given me this opportunity so in some ways I feel like I also owe it to them, but I’m just very much part of the family and also very much enjoying where I am.

“That’s always a big part of it. I don’t want to enjoy another team and not enjoy anything. I’m part of the family, I’m excited to be part of that family – especially on the trajectory we are on – I think it’s been the most important factor in all of this.”

Rolex 24, Hour 4: Pfaff’s new McLaren goes behind the wall

The GTD PRO Pfaff McLaren 720S Evo went to the garage during the fourth hour, the crew working on the right front to repair an apparent hub failure. Pfaff had little testing with the car before it arrived at the Roar Before the 24. Two LMP2s also …

The GTD PRO Pfaff McLaren 720S Evo went to the garage during the fourth hour, the crew working on the right front to repair an apparent hub failure. Pfaff had little testing with the car before it arrived at the Roar Before the 24. Two LMP2s also ended the hour in the garage — the No. 88 AF Corse ORECA, the crew trying to diagnose a problem with the electronics after it lost power; and the No. 20 High Class Racing ORECA, which sat in the garage unattended by the crew. The No. 20 had been involved in a crash early in the race and been repaired and sent out, but returned to the garage in short order.

Several cars used a caution for a spin-and-stall early in the hour to pit, and as a result there are two separate sequences among the GTP cars. The No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac Racing V-Series.R was one of those, and Jack Aitken led Nick Yelloly in the No. 25 BMW M Team RLL M Hybrid V8, with the No. 24 BMW next with Philipp Eng at the wheel. Eng was on the alternate sequence, though, and would soon need to pit.

LMP2 is so far looking like a three-way fight between United Autosports’ No. 2, CrowdStrike Racing by APR and Riley Motorsports. Nico Pino led at the end of the hour in the No. 2.

The LMP2 No. 11 TDS Racing, in which Steven Thomas had an impact with the wall, has been officially retired.

Michelin has provided some interesting facts about the race, including that the 59-car field includes drivers from 34 different countries. In the GTP field alone, 16 countries are represented.

HOUR 4 STANDINGS