Bruce McLaren

The 19-year-old will start his grand prix debut from eighth on the grid in Melbourne, after McLaren’s low-key pre-season gave way to an unexpectedly encouraging qualifying performance.<br>Norris beat the Alfa Romeo of Kimi Raikkonen and Racing Point of Sergio Perez in Q3, as McLaren every team in the midfield except Haas.<br>Norris said he had “a lot of nerves” going into qualifying because ...

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The team admitted last month it may delay using products from the Brazilian company, having struck a deal in February last year to change from BP/Castrol for 2019.<br>It is understood to be using Petrobras lubricants in the transmission but has not started the campaign using its other products, like fuel or engine oil.<br>“It’s still a work in progress,” said McLaren F1 CEO Zak Brown when ...

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Coca-Cola logos appeared on a Formula 1 car for the first time with McLaren last year in a deal starting from the United States Grand Prix, as the soft drinks company evaluated a bigger involvement with the sport.<br>While there had been no further communication over the winter about the deal running into this year, McLaren announced on the eve of the Australian Grand Prix that the partnership had ...

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McLaren's results in F1 have been disappointing as of late, but while it didn't score any points in three season-opening Australian Grands Prix with Honda engines between 2015 and 2017, its first race as a Renault customer in Melbourne last year was a different story.<br>Despite a troubled pre-season, it scored a standout fifth place with Fernando Alonso, which would remain as its season-best ...

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Earlier this year, McLaren announced a tie-up with BAT that was "focused solely on BAT's potentially reduced risk products and grounded in technology and innovation" rather than having any direct link to cigarette promotion.<br>The 2019 McLaren car and team wear, including driver overalls, have featured ‘A Better Tomorrow’ branding and logos up until now.<br>But on the back of an investigation ...

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Next year will be Giorgio’s 50th year in the sport – having covered over 800 GPs, he’s one of the longest serving journalists to ever grace the F1 paddock. This gives him a unique insight into the ever-changing landscape of the sport and perhaps, more importantly, an uninterrupted vision of the physical transformation the cars have undergone.<br><br>For more details about Piola's work, and ...

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Alonso joined the Woking team for the second week of pre-season testing in Barcelona, following the progress of the new MCL34 with which McLaren will compete in 2019.<br>Team drivers Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz have topped a day of testing each, although the latter made it clear he doesn't believe McLaren is in a position to challenge near the front yet.<br>Although two-time champion Alonso has ...

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Carlos Sainz ensured McLaren retained a place at the top of the timing screens after setting the fastest lap of the test on day six of pre-season testing.<br>Despite their demonstration of pace on the C4 tyre, a minor technical issue brought a slight delay to the team's running, but the quick resolution of the problem meant a 130-lap day could be completed by Sainz, who finished several tenths of ...

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Although Alonso and McLaren were in talks about the Spaniard driving the 2019 car, it will be race drivers Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris who will complete all of the team's winter testing before the first race.<br>As part of his new ambassador role announced on Wednesday, Alonso will drive in "selected tests" during the year as he helps McLaren with the development of both the MCL34 and next ...

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The two-time world champion rejoined McLaren in 2015 but opted to step away from grand prix racing for 2019 following years of uncompetitive machinery, and an urge to compete elsewhere.<br>Alonso had already been confirmed to race for McLaren in this year's Indianapolis 500, but his much-speculated involvement in the F1 team's testing programme has now been firmed up as well.<br>He will drive at ...

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After their mostly-reliable start to pre-season testing last week, McLaren have finally encountered some headaches after a day of highs and lows for the team.<br>Lando Norris had the unwelcome honour of causing two red flags. In the morning, he was forced to park his McLaren MCL34 up in the opening sector of the lap as his car was struck by hydraulic pressure problems.<br>The team spent the ...

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Boullier returned to the F1 paddock on Tuesday at the start of the second week of pre-season testing, his first appearance since resigning as McLaren's racing director last summer.<br>The Frenchman has taken a "strategic advisor" and global ambassador role for the French GP, which returned to the calendar last season at Paul Ricard.<br>Asked by Motorsport.com why he focused on his new role instead ...

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Along with Racing Point and Williams, McLaren was doing some extra running on a filming day, including some laps in conjunction with a McLaren road car.<br>A statement from the team noted: "There was a small fire in the garage during the team's private filming day. The fire was quickly extinguished by the team, and circuit emergency services and medical teams attended immediately in ...

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Key will officially leave Toro Rosso on March 23 and begin working for McLaren from March 25, with the transition happening between the Australian and Bahrain Grands Prix.<br>Toro Rosso will promote current deputy technical director Jody Egginton to the technical director role in Key's place.<br>McLaren's hiring of Key last summer prompted a long dispute between the team and Toro Rosso's parent ...

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After a disappointing 2018 campaign that fell far short of expectations, McLaren hopes that a new design team can help it improve this season.<br>Early indications from testing are encouraging, in terms of both reliability and pace, with Norris setting the second-fastest time behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc on Tuesday.<br>But although he is encouraged by the progress McLaren has made, Norris is ...

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Former Renault and Toro Rosso driver Sainz set the second-fastest time on Monday on the C3 tyre, eclipsing Haas man Romain Grosjean to emerge as pacesetter Sebastian Vettel's nearest challenger.<br>The Spaniard also completed 119 laps, the third-most of any driver, despite suffering a delay when his car lost drive at the exit of the pitlane and he had to be wheeled back in at the start of the ...

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Renault had lagged behind the benchmark Mercedes and Ferrari power units during the hybrid era, but recently boasted of significant gains with its engine ahead of the 2019 season – a claim the works team's new signing Daniel Ricciardo has attested to being backed up by numbers.<br>McLaren, which linked up with Renault last year after three disastrous seasons with Honda, now remains as the French ...

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The team finished sixth in the constructors’ championship in 2018, and will be bidding to improve on a disappointing first campaign with Renault engines in which its MCL33 failed to live up to expectations.<br>First impressions of McLaren's challenger suggest some of the previous car's hallmarks have been carried over, but the MCL34’s “neat and tidy design” also features plenty of parts ...

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Renault has talked up the progress it has made with its 2019 powerunit, with the company's F1 managing director Cyril Abiteboul saying it had found "significant" power gains over the winter.<br>While Sainz is not getting too carried by the positive early talk yet, he says that the benefits to his own team could be important if the progress proves to be real.<br>"Everyone looks to be talking very ...

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The British team announced its new technical partnership with Petrobras in February last year with the change from BP/Castrol to take effect from 2019. <br>At the launch of its 2019 car, McLaren CEO Zak Brown said it remained the F1 team’s “intention” to use Petrobras products this year. <br>McLaren is thought to have Petrobras’s lubricants to use now but has not committed to answering ...

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BAT, which owned the BAR F1 team from 1999 until it morphed into Honda's works operation in the mid-2000s, appears on the 2019 McLaren via 'A Better Tomorrow' branding and has made clear it will not be promoting any tobacco products via the deal.<br>BAT's return to F1 sponsorship comes shortly after Phillip Morris - another tobacco company moving into new areas - increased its visual presence on ...

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The Woking team signed Formula 2 racer Sergio Sette Camara as a reserve driver at the end of 2018, but the Brazilian is not yet eligible for a superlicence as he does not have enough points and could not race in case the team needs a replacement.<br>Fellow McLaren junior Nyck de Vries does have enough points for a superlicence, but the team hasn't specified a role for the Dutchman.<br>Two-time ...

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The car, sporting a new variation of the 'papaya orange' colour scheme that was brought back the year before, was presented at the McLaren Technology Centre on Thursday.<br>It features prominent branding for McLaren's new sponsors Estrella Galicia 0,0 and Huski Chocolate, as well as returning partners Petrobras and Dell, and engine supplier Renault.<br>The MCL34 will be raced by two new drivers in ...

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