Lawrence Butcher

Lawrence Butcher looks at the development of the Mercedes-AMG One road-legal hybrid hypercar One interesting point is that during the development of AMG One’s powertrain, there was minimal influence from

The wing of a Formula 1 car has one main job: create a pressure difference. Bernoulli’s equation explains how the pressure below the wing drops as its shape makes the air flow faster beneath it than above it. This lower pressure pulls the wing down and pushes the car into the ground. The extra downforce

Until recently, no one had ever successfully built a road car around an F1 engine. There have been close tries, and engines from race cars have ended up fitted to

Until recently, no one had ever successfully built a road car around an F1 engine. There have been close tries, and engines from race cars have ended up fitted to road cars in modified form. Porsche’s Carrera GT took the base engine from the company’s RS Spyder LMP. Going the other way, BMW’s 1980s M12

One interesting point is that during the development of AMG ONE’s powertrain, there was minimal influence from the F1 side of HPP, despite the ongoing development of the racing PU. The ICE and associated systems were effectively frozen at the 2015 specification and later developments were not incorporated. However, there was one key exception: the

UK-based simulation specialist Dynisma has unveiled the DMG-S, a compact driver-in-the-loop simulator that brings the company’s proven motion platform to a broader range of motorsport and driver training applications. The DMG-S shares the same core motion architecture found in Dynisma‘s engineering simulators, which have proved popular with F1 teams and other high-end motorsport outfits, delivering

JCB, the UK-based manufacturer of excavators and other off-highway equipment, is to return to the Bonneville Salt Flats 20-years after securing the world land speed record for a diesel car with its Dieselmax streamliner. Back in 2006 its LSR adventures were to prove out its in-house diesel engine technology, in 2026, it looks to repeat the feat with hydrogen power, using

Volkswagen has confirmed plans to enter the 24h Nurburgring in 2027 with a dedicated racing version of the current Golf R in partnership with long-standing collaborator Max Kruse Racing. A show car previewing the project will be unveiled to the public on the Ring Boulevard at the Nurburgring. The program marks the 25th anniversary of

McLaren has officially revealed the MCL-HY hypercar that will contest the World Endurance Championship and the Le Mans 24 Hours from 2027, alongside the track car variant MCL-HY GTR, which will be offered to VIP clients through its exclusive Project: Endurance program. Built to the LMDh regulations, the MCL-HY features a Dallara chassis and is

Historic racing may not be the most obvious place to roll out a host of sustainable technologies, but that is exactly what Lola Cars has done with its new T70S. Despite having a full FIA Historic Technical Passport, the T70S boasts a carbon footprint nearly that is 54% lower than previous iterations of the 60’s

Honda has returned to F1 as a works partner of Aston Martin, with the new partnership’s season getting off to something of a rocky start. However, the abilities of Honda’s teams in Sakura City in Japan and Milton Keynes in the UK should never be underestimated, as its comeback in the last rules cycle to

Despite the vehicle being planned as a purely EV platform from the outset, Lotus has announced a range-extended hybrid version of the Eletre, looking to capitalize on increasing demand for

Is your AI an engineering partner, or just more friction? AI hype is everywhere, but how do you trust a ‘black box’ that ignores physical laws and requires costly, data-hungry

Honda rejoins Formula 1 this year as a power unit supplier with the Aston Martin team. Heading up its trackside operations is Shintaro Orihara, who has been the Japanese manufacturer for over 20 years. You’ve worked at Honda for decades now, why did you want to join the company in the first place? When I

F1 is undergoing its biggest regulation shift this century – or possibly ever. The sport has seen significant changes in the past, including the aerodynamic rules dictating the current cars, and the huge technological jump of the 2014 powertrain regulations. However, in both those cases, it was either chassis or power unit that was altered,

First teased in mid-2025, further details have been released for a new, top level, single seater championship, HybridV10, with a target date of 2028 or 2029 for the initial races. Spearheaded by Anthony Hamilton, the series appears to be pitching itself as a direct competitor to F1 and will be staged outside of the remit

Donut Lab has unveiled a solid-state battery, set to go into production with Verge Motorcycles in Q1, 2026, reportedly ready to scale to series production volumes.“While the advantages are obvio

Onsemi has signed a collaboration agreement with Global Foundries (GF) to develop and manufacture next-generation gallium nitride (GaN) power devices, starting with 650V products built on GF’s 200mm

Real-world testing of the Electric Compact Architecture (ECA) underpinning Smart‘s latest city car, the all-electric #2, is progressing. To validate the new platform, Smart engineers are