Car FYI

  Photo Credit: Pirelli & C. S.p.A. The thundering sounds of Formula 1 engines once again flood the world. The stunning country of Australia serves as the first host of 24 events part of the eagerly awaited 2025 season. Major driver and personnel changes have led to uncertainties during the off-season that has only succeeded in dialling up intrigue for the new year of racing.  In the early part of the 2025 Australian Grand Prix race weekend, it was becoming clear that McLaren and British driver Lando Norris would be a major force. The team seeks to defend their 2024 constructors’ title while Norris is viewed as a future world champion. Saturday qualifying saw Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri secured the front row ahead of the Melbourne event.   For Sunday’s main event, the 58-lap Australian Grand Prix would be impacted by rain showers. The wet Albert Park race track may have contributed to all six driver retirements with the first occurring even before the firs...

Lando Norris in Friday Practice (Photo Credit: Pirelli & C. S.p.A.) Qualifying for the 2025 Australian Grand Prix has provided the first competitive showing for what is the new, hotly anticipated Formula 1 campaign. In setting the grid for the 58-lap race, the cars belonging to the 2024 Constructors’ champion McLaren demonstrated a desire to realize even more greatness this season. Lando Norris secured pole position on the eve of the opening round for the new season by wheeling his McLaren around the 5.278-kilometer Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit in blistering 1-minute, 15.096-second lap. The British driver knocked his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri off the top of the time chart disrupting what might have been a home crowd triumph for the Australian inside the #81 car. With Q3 times separated by 0.084 seconds, the McLaren MCL39 lock up the front row of the 2025 Australian Grand Prix. Norris’ pole-scoring time of 1-minute, 15.096-second lap time was 0.819 seconds faster than Max Ver...

Photo Credit: Jiri Krenek for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd. untitled Varying weather conditions shaped what was one of the more memorable Russian Grand Prix race weekends. As part of the 2021 Formula 1 schedule, the Sochi Autodrom featured Saturday and Sunday competition in a combination of dry and wet conditions. Qualifying started after rain soaked the 5.848-kilometer track with Lando Norris prevailing with his first Formula 1 pole when his McLaren Racing team mounted soft compound slick tires on a drying track late in Q3. Sunday’s 53-lap main event started as a dry race but late rainfall resulted in a gamble that saw Norris losing and Lewis Hamilton hitting the jackpot. Lando Norris’ McLaren and the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz Jr. led the field to the starting grid for the Russian Grand Prix. As the lights went out, Norris shot-out to an initial advantage but Sainz successfully chased down the orange and blue McLaren to take the lead into the second corner o...

Photo Credit: Mark Sutton/LAT Images/Pirelli untitled Formula 1's oldest race track on the current schedule, Autodromo Nazionale di Monza is recognized as a venue of speed. The 11-turn, 5.793-kilometer (3.6-mile) track layout hosting the 2021 Italian Grand Prix has some of the lowest downforce expectations of many event on the circuit. The unusual performance attributes of Monza where aerodynamic grip is de-emphasized in favour of top speed have given some drivers and teams a taste of glory. Last year’s event won by Scuderia AlphaTauri pilot Pierre Gasly was achieved by the combination of utilizing the team’s Honda engine power and taking advantage of lucky breaks. Gasly’s win in the 2020 Italian Grand Prix also featured fending off a McLaren race car driven by Carlos Sainz Jr. who finished in the runner-up spot. With some extraordinary circumstances occurring in last year’s race, it seemed less than likely that similar unorthodox matters would cre...

Photo Credit: Mike Maez/Gooding & Company untitled Arguably the zenith of automotive engineering in the 1990s and one of the greatest performance cars ever built, the McLaren F1 instantly generated an aura of motoring greatness. Conceived by a championship-winning Formula 1 team with a design first penned by Gordon Murray, the ultimate dream car of its era featured a super-aerodynamic shape sculpted around a unique three-passenger cockpit where the driver is seated in a central position. The McLaren F1's propulsion from a 6.1-liter twelve-cylinder engine supplied by BMW generating 618 horsepower has the capacity of pressing to speeds up to 240 miles per hour (386.24 kilometers per hour) when performance is unrestricted. The creditable pedigree and performance of the supercar would be amplified as the car’s GTR racing variant won in multiple classes of sports car racing with overall victory in the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans being a highlight.   Only 64 road-legal e...

Photo Credit: McLaren Automotive For a supercar driver, the greatest sensation is travelling forward at a speed unreachable by a typical passenger car. The McLaren Artura, the latest high-velocity, road-going creation from the British auto racing team that expanded into exotic performance car builder is set to become another desirable machine for those with the style, courage and money to explore the wider boundaries of automobile performance.   Touting acceleration from 0 to 60 miles per hour (96.56 kilometers per hour) in just 3 seconds and a top speed of 205 miles per hour, McLaren’s Artura supercar muscle goes with the sophistication expected for a vehicle in the third decade of the 21st century. Momentum for the Artura is supplied by a new hybrid electric/gasoline powertrain combining a lightweight, twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6 engine generating 671 brake horsepower with a 94-horsepower E-Motor that produces 165 lb-ft of torque. Equipped with a 7.4-kilowatt-hour lithiu...

Photo Credit: Chris Nagy The recently concluded 2020 edition of the Canadian International AutoShow wraps as a grand celebration of wheels and the motors that propel them. More than just a gathering for vehicle manufacturers to impress us with their latest designs and technologies, the Metro Toronto Convention Centre played host to a multitude of ideas lined to the classic, modern and futuristic automotive genre. Within the massive gathering space was a chance to amuse yourself with various types of interactivity. Branded with the theme of “Transformative Times”, the 2020 Canadian International AutoShow acted in an attempt to shed light along the many crossroads the automobile industry faces while also reminding us of the delight of more than 100 years of motoring. Photo Credit: Chris Nagy In recent years, the Canadian International AutoShow has benefited from a high-profile lead-in that was held in Detroit. Previously a staple for January, the North American Internatio...

Photo Credit: Real Racing 3/EA Earlier this month, there was an uproar over the virtual racing app Real Racing 3 as the publisher made some controversial changes during a recent update. Many users complained on social media that aspects relating to the vehicle handling has been altered drastically. As someone who plays Real Racing 3, I concur with the comments there were noticeable changes to the driving dynamics in the game namely more aggressive brake assist and more contentious AI of competitors. Last week, a video link was added to Real Racing 3 related to what is called the R3 Version 4.7 McLaren update.  In the message, a producer for Real Racing 3 described the changes to the game as unintentional saying it was meant to be limited to a specific component of the racing experience that leaked into updated game. Although the producer's comment on the vehicle controls has not been consistent with what is currently experienced, he did acknowledge a change in the AI. Within...

Photo Credit: Image from Real Racing 3/Electronic Arts A recent update of Real Racing 3 has spawned some good and bad traits for the popular racing app. Starting with the good news, Real Racing 3 is currently offering players to gain access to new McLaren-branded vehicles. Production-based 570GT and 675LT have been added alongside a radical concept racer. The most stunning ride introduced to the app racing game, the McLaren MP4-X was concocted as an extreme example of a Formula 1 car matched with the limits of real-world technology. Sculpted as an advanced hybrid race car last year as an exercise of McLaren Applied Technologies, the MP4-X's electrical power system consists of generation through typical means such as braking as well as through solar cells. Electrical power is stored in thin batteries orchestrated around the vehicle for weight optimization. Although Formula 1 is already exploiting hybrid race car technology, the McLaren MP4-X's application is beyond th...

With every generation, we find new ways to channel our love. From letters to telegrams to emails to social media, the methods of connection to objects of affection has changed but the emotions behind them remains a romance. Ever since the creation of the automobile, devotion to the vehicles has definitely adjusted to the growth of media technologies. Earlier this month, supercar builder McLaren Automotive's debut of the 570S at the 2015 New York International Auto Show was accompanied by a free mobile application. For those unable to see the stunning 3.8-liter twin-turbocharged V-8 powered McLaren 650S in person, the app allows the 562-horsepower vehicle to literally leap off the page. Added to Google Play marketplace on April 7th, the McLaren 570S Sport Series App allows Android smartphones and tablets allows supercar lovers the chance to explore the new vehicle i...

Photo Credit: Chris Nagy Introduced to the public at the Geneva Motor Show this past March, the McLaren 650S is a 641-horsepower supercar placed between the MP4 and the P1 hypercar. Presented in Spider form, the 650S was on display inside Brookfield Place in downtown Toronto as part of Motorexpo 2014. The attached video is compiled from my contact with a Mantis Green 650S Spider. Please enjoy!