McLaren-Honda has unveiled its 2016 challenger, the MP4-31, as it attempts to move up the Formula 1 grid after its mediocre showing in 2015. McLaren and Honda reunited in 2015 but slumped to ninth place in the championship, as reliability woes were compounded by a lack of performance, pinned on deficiencies within the Honda power unit. That left Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button in the unenviable position of only occasionally scrapping for points, though the pair remained committed to the project and will continue to […]

McLaren has confirmed that Honda youngster Nobuharu Matsushita has been appointed as its new test and development driver this year. Matsushita placed ninth in his rookie GP2 campaign last year for ART, alongside eventual champion Stoffel Vandoorne, who acts as McLaren's reserve pilot. Matsushita will remain with ART in GP2 this season and is set to conduct simulator duties for McLaren. "This season I am ecstatic to be joining McLaren as a test and development driver," said Matsushita. "To step into the world of Formula […]

McLaren test and reserve driver Stoffel Vandoorne will compete in Japan's Super Formula championship for Dandelion Racing, the manufacturer confirmed on Friday. Vandoorne dominated the GP2 Series in 2015 and was promoted to the role of test and reserve driver at McLaren, with whom he has been affiliated for several years. McLaren was keen to keep Vandoorne race fit in 2016 and the Belgian tested for the Honda-powered Dandelion outfit in November last year. Vandoorne will now link up with Tomoki Nojiri at the squad […]

McLaren test and reserve driver Stoffel Vandoorne is confident that he can avoid the path taken by former colleague Kevin Magnussen, who left the team in 2015. Magnussen raced for McLaren in 2014 and occupied a reserve role in 2015, but did not drive for the outfit after an aborted Australian Grand Prix effort while filling in for the injured Fernando Alonso. McLaren's decision to retain Alonso and Jenson Button for 2016, along with the rise of eventual GP2 champion Vandoorne, left Magnussen out in […]

McLaren-Honda will unveil its 2016 challenger, titled the MP4-31, on the eve of the first batch of pre-season testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. McLaren reunited with Honda in 2015 but suffered a difficult campaign and slumped to a lowly ninth in the standings. McLaren confirmed on Monday that the MP4-31 will be unveiled in public on Sunday 21 February, with pre-season testing set to begin the following day. The new Haas Formula 1 team is also scheduled to launch its car on the same […]

McLaren Racing has confirmed the signing of Volkswagen Director of Motorsport Jost Capito as its new Chief Executive Officer. Capito has assumed the role during Volkswagen's dominant period in the World Rally Championship but will switch to McLaren when his successor at the German manufacturer is appointed. Capito's signing means that current acting CEO Jonathan Neale will become the new Chief Operating Officer at McLaren Technology Group, and both will work under Ron Dennis. "I first approached Jost last summer," said Dennis. "He is an […]

Honda chief Yasuhisa Arai says delaying its return to Formula 1 by a season would not have prevented it from enduring a difficult first year back in action. Honda reunited with McLaren prior to the start of the 2015 campaign but endured a difficult year, placing ninth in the standings amid a lack of pace and reliability. Arai says that Honda regarded 2015 as a learning year and it would have suffered the same setbacks had it deferred its return. "If we waited another one […]

McLaren boss Ron Dennis has praised the maturity of Fernando Alonso following McLaren's troubled 2015 campaign, in which it slumped to ninth in the standings. Dennis and Alonso endured an acrimonious relationship in 2007 but put aside differences to reunite in 2015, amid Honda's return as McLaren's power unit supplier. Alonso could muster only 11 points in his first year back with McLaren but was praised by Dennis for his approach. "Fernando is as hard-working as he is talented, be in no doubt of that," […]

Jenson Button says he contemplated his future in Formula 1 during a troubled 2015 campaign with McLaren. Button was retained over Kevin Magnussen at the end of 2014 but the renewed McLaren-Honda partnership led to the Briton questioning his place in the sport, before he ultimately opted to stay on for 2016. "Last year I wasn't sure if I'd be racing and it wasn't my choice," Button told Sky Sports, referring to McLaren deliberating over his future. "This year it was totally my choice and […]

Stoffel Vandoorne posted the quickest time during Formula 1's post-race tyre test at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. Vandoorne, driving McLaren's MP4-30, completed 99 laps with a best time of 1:44.103 to finish three-tenths of a second clear of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen. Pirelli tested different versions of its new Ultra Soft compound, as well as new constructions, with teams unaware of which prototype was being trialled. "We had one shot when it came to testing tyres for next season, and we can be […]

Fernando Alonso was left to rue "cruel luck" for McLaren after he suffered a puncture during his final attempt during the first knockout segment of qualifying at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Alonso was on course for a slot in Q2 but sustained a puncture and had to return to the pits, scuppering his chances of making it through to the next phase of the session. "Our car has performed better in every session than we initially anticipated," said Alonso, who will line-up from 17th […]

Fernando Alonso says McLaren needs to learn as much as it can during this weekend's season finale in Abu Dhabi as it bids to make progress across the winter. McLaren has endured a difficult campaign since it reunited with Honda at the start of 2015 and Alonso has emphasised that the outfit must continue to push this weekend, in spite of its disheartening position of ninth in the Constructors' standings. "The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend represents many things for us at McLaren-Honda," he explained. […]