Autoblog

SPOILER ALERT

Click for a hi-res gallery from the 2008 British GP

Storms swept through Silverstone this year for the British Grand Prix. First came the announcement of David Coulthard's retirement from Formula 1, which was followed by the announcement that, starting in 2010, the race would leave its historic home at Silverstone and move to Donington Park.

The decision by Formula One Management and the FIA followed years of calls for the ageing Silverstone track -- owned and operated by the British Drivers Racing Club -- to renovate and get itself up to the modern standards set by F1's newer tracks. However, after failing to secure government funding or sufficient private investment, the decision was made to move the event to Donington. So as the storms set in to close two major chapters of British motor racing history, the rain poured down on the penultimate running of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Follow the jump to read how it turned out.

[Images: Getty/AFP]

With the mostly unloved Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren set to get the official axe in 2009, the path is clear for the next McLaren-branded supercar to be unveiled. Expected to be built at its facility in Woking, England, McLaren has plans for the as-yet-unnamed vehicle to compete with Ferrari's incredible F430. Rumored to be powered by a 550-horsepower V8 engine featuring a basic design snagged from Mercedes and built by Mahle (that of the former Cosworth tuning fame), the power-to-weight ratio should handily outdo that of the Prancing Horse. Shortly after the new coupe codenamed P11 is unveiled, a convertible version is also expected.

True hardcore McLaren enthusiasts should mark 2012 as the year that McLaren returns to form with a proper replacement for its awe-inspiring F1 of a few years back. Powered by a lightweight version of the P11 architecture, this car codenamed the P12 is expected to be powered by a V10 engine with over 600 horsepower. The waiting list will likely start right... about... now.

[Source: Autocar]

Reports are coming in that Lewis Hamilton, the phenom F1 driver that nearly won the drivers' championship last season, has resigned with team McLaren for a reported $138 million USD over the next five years. The deal keeps the now 23-year-old at McLaren through 2012, though he's said he would stay put for his entire career if they wanted him to (and paid him to). On average, Hamilton will earn $27 million per year through 2012, which is a big raise compared to the $700,000 base pay plus bonuses he earned last year, his rookie season. Looks like all that money used to pay F1 star Fernando Alonso last season will be going to Hamilton now, despite the fact he couldn't beat the Stig around the Top Gear test track.

[Source: Motor Authority]

While McLaren's next car is not expected to use any Ferrari technology, it will take after Ferrari in one way: the scarlet marque is launching is F1 challenger on January 6, 2008, and McLaren will do so the day after, on January 7. The move is a bit of a surprise, since McLaren said that it wouldn't be hosting a public launch of the car at all, hoping to diminish the scrutiny from nearly an entire season mired in scandal.

The now-very-public launch of the MP4-23 will take place at the Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart, and will be attended by head honchos all the way up to Daimler Chairman Dieter Zetsche. The event will be lacking, of course, a certain former World Champion and the Spanish sponsors he took with him back to Renault. In Alonso's stead will be Heikki Kovalainen, a lot of hope, and, if we know Ron Dennis, a commitment to regaining the number one status -- this time the right way.

[Source: World Car Fans]

During the Stepneygate scandal over the course of the 2007 Formula 1 season, more than one critic accused the FIA of being on a witch hunt against McLaren. Based on what McLaren said it knew, and what the FIA said it knew, it looked to many like the governing body was simply doing everything possible to put Ferrari in the Championship lead. When the $100,000,000 penalty was given to McLaren, some folks were aghast.

But this one goes firmly to the FIA. McLaren has unreservedly apologized in a letter to the FIA, the World Motorsports Council, and F1 fans for not being forthcoming, for possibly allowing Ferrari secrets to get into its car, and for allowing the FIA's investigation of the team to reveal more information than its own investigation. It also agreed to pay the FIA's expenses for conducting the investigation.

In addition to all of that, McLaren has agreed to "'impose a moratorium' on development of three separate systems that may have been infected by the Ferrari secrets." Those three potentially "infected" systems were on Hamilton and Alonso's 2007 racers, which makes it quite convenient that Hamilton didn't win the Championship. Because of McLaren's acknowledgment of guilt and acceptance of terms, Max Mosley, head of the FIA, has asked that the investigation be closed, and that a February 14th meeting to determine the validity of McLaren's 2008 car be canceled.

[Source: F1 Live]

Fernando Alonso, recently let go from the telenovela known as the McLaren F1 Team, is in a bit of a quandary. He's looking for a team that can keep him at the top of the standings, but he only wants to sign a contract for a year. That's because the teams he really wants to join, Ferrari or BMW-Sauber, can't even think of making a move until the end of 2008 (and in Ferrari's case, really until the end of 2009). However, the only teams he's got a chance of signing with -- Renault, Red Bull, or Toyota -- have unresolved situations, aren't winners, and won't accept the one-year contract stipulation.

Enter McLaren, which still has a cockpit open, but no one worthy to fill it. The driver the team really wants, Nico Rosberg, would require the jaws of life to be pried out of his Williams contract. The only pilots left are unknowns or as yet unproven. But the driver market will open up in a year... so if they could just find a proven winner who only wanted a one-year contract... then maybe... just maybe....

And that's how Spanish newspaper Diario As has come to report that Alonso's camp is in talks with Ron Dennis and McLaren about going back to the team. Alonso's people have, incredibly, engaged in the dialog, but have passed McLaren a list of conditions such as allowing Alonso to decide his race strategy. Nobody believes the reunion is actually going to happen, although more outlandish things have occurred in F1. Be that as it may, the fact that it's gotten this far is what puts the silly in silly season.

[Source: F1-Live]

Ferrari may have kicked off the era of the modern supercar with the F40, but McLaren took the concept to a whole new level with the F1. Letting a legendary Formula One designer like Gordon Murray have essentially free reign brought forth a 241 mph, three-seat masterpiece of which fewer than 100 were ultimately built. Others challenged the F1s throne, and the Bugatti Veyron eventually overtook its performance marks, but there is still nothing quite like Murray's original triumph.

McLaren has apparently decided that the time is right to create a successor. They are hard at work on a lightweight two-seater powered by a V8 engine under the name P11. That's one less seat and four fewer cylinders than its forebear, but modern engine tech should be able to render something even faster. British magazine CAR has details of the new supercar that's expected to launch in 2010 in their November print issue.

[Source: CAR]

FIA President Max Mosley (above) announced today that last week's decision by the World Motor sport council will be appealed. It appears the Italian motorsport authorities didn't like the idea of McLaren getting off so easily. Although they found that McLaren had indeed been given Ferrari's confidential materials, the group decided that the British team hadn't benefited from that info and no penalty was assessed. A warning was issued that if their feelings on that matter changed for any reason later in the season, they would revisit their penalty options. One of the reasons for the appeal is that Ferrari wasn't there. Mosley agreed that the outcome of the hearing may have been different if the Maranello firm had attended.

And while all this was going on, one of the parties involved said he thinks there is still a leak at Ferrari. Former head designer, Nigel Stepney, says that the person inside Ferrari who used him as a courier is still with the team. In his statements he makes the Formula 1 world sound like something straight out of a James Bond movie. Well, maybe Austin Powers. Stepney says that Ferrari knows more about the situation than it is admitting. He even claims that he was set up on this issue and on another one from a while back. At one point he had been investigated when a mysterious white powder had been found in the race cars' fuel tanks. He says that he was framed, and that the real culprit put the powder in his pocket while he was taking a shower!

Damn, this is getting good!

Thanks, Jay.

[Source: PitPass]

How fast is fast enough? How important are bragging rights when you're trying to sell a supercar? Because, let's face it, the difference between 73 mph and 273 mph is kind of academic. Even if it's proven your car can go that fast, there are very few situations where that extra 200 mph would be usable, especially outside of a track environment. Now don't get us wrong, we love these high speed shootouts as much as the next gearhead, but all they really accomplish are earning a spot on some list and selling more cars, if that's your game. SSC, the company that brought us the Diablo-esque Aero a few years ago, is one such player.

They've sold a few of their All-American Aeros over the years and haven't had many complaints. As if the "regular" Aero weren't powerful enough, they upped the ante in 2006 with the Ultimate Aero. Instead of the supercharged, 787 bhp, 6.2-litre V8 engine, they fitted a a higher boost supercharger and got a Veyron-topping 1,046 bhp. Still not content, the 2007 Ultimate Aero picked up a "Turbo" badge and a few more horses as well. Now producing 1,183 bhp, the Turbo becomes the most powerful emissions-legal production automobile in the world. Where the original Aero promised a top speed of 240 mph, the new Ultimate has had a few weight saving touches to go with its power upgrade and its top end has risen to a projected 273 mph. We've previously heard outrageous claims from many supercar makers over the years, but this is a whopper.

Well, it looks like it's put up or shut up time for Jerod Shelby (no relation to Carroll) and the gang at SSC. On March 21st, they are set to prove their claims. And to show that this is indeed a street car, they will be doing their test on a 12-mile stretch of Nevada's Highway 93 in Elko County. The immediate goal is to officially beat the 253 mph top speed of the current world's fastest car, the Bugatti Veyron. But the team really hopes to set the bar a lot higher and stay on the books a bit longer. Before the Veyron, the Callaway Sledgehammer had hit 254 mph, but it wasn't deemed a production vehicle. It was the slightly modified McLaren F1 that had held the official record for more than 10 years until the Koenigsegg CCX topped it. Soon after, the Veyron came out and used an extra 300+ hp to eclipse the F1 top speed by a full 12 mph. If SSC can hit 273, only the new biofueled Koenigsegg CCXR and Saleen S7 tt Competition (each with more than 1,000 hp) might come close. Oh how we'd love to be there for a Veyron/SSC/S7/CCXR/F1/Sledgehammer smackdown. We'll let you know how the test goes.

[Source: SSC via Rideroom]

Winding Road was recently at a California exotic car dealer and spotted this rare Jaguar XJ220 S supercar. One of only nine made, this semi-race version of the big cat was redone by TWR to coax 680 hp and 527 ft-lbs. of torque from its turbocharged 3.5-liter V6. It also went on an extreme diet, replacing the all-aluminum body with one made of carbon fiber, making the cat good for 0-60 in 3.3 seconds on its march to a top end of 228 mph. Shouldn't it be renamed the XJ228 then?

Three of these cars were raced and six were sold as street cars with several finding their way to L.A., passing through one of the Keuylian dealerships. This particular XJ (and a nearly identical black one) have received custom Kinesis wheels and new Infiniti Q45 projector headlights. These slight changes instantly take 10 years off the age of these 1993 supercars.

It might be hard for many people to remember, but the XJ220 was a project that saw Jaguar at the top of the supercar hill for a brief shining moment, despite lengthy delays and detail changes to the car over its development period. Following the F40 and 959, and immediately preceding the McLaren F1, the XJ220 didn't quite match its eponymous speed, but came close at 217. Of course, Gordon Murray made that a moot point anyhow, and the crumbling supercar market almost killed Jaguar altogether. We're glad to see one of these still rolling and looking just as beautiful as ever with its new eyes. Click the read link for a few more pics.

[Source: Winding Road]