WATCH: Soft-top supercars tested: Aston Martin Vantage vs Ferrari Roma vs McLaren Artura
However, this is an Autocar group test, so there has to be a winner. But which one? Well, we'll get to that, but first let's take a look at the contenders, starting with the car that inspired this gathering of upper-class alfresco entertainers: the new Aston Martin Vantage Roadster, the latest offering from the resurgent and newly confident British brand. Acting as an elegant counterpoint to the brutish Aston is the Ferrari Roma Spider. Its classically proportioned GT lines mean the curvaceous Italian is less attention-grabbing than its British rivals, but it's far from unattractive. For jaw-dropping kerb appeal, both the Ferrari and Aston have to give best to the bright orange McLaren Artura Spider, which has a magnetic attraction to smartphone-wielding supercar spotters. Acting as the outlier in this contest, the carbonfibretubbed Woking wonder goes about its business of delivering fast fresh-air thrills in a very different way. Find out our verdict by clicking the video above.
]]>
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Lando Norris recovers from disastrous start to win thrilling Hungarian Grand Prix
Lando Norris made it three wins from his last four races on Sunday with a hard-fought victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix. Despite a disastrous start which saw him slip from third to fifth in the opening seconds, the McLaren driver benefited from an improvised strategy to pit just once and managed to hold on to the lead despite a late challenge from teammate Oscar Piastri. The Australian driver started and finished in second, meaning he is now just nine points ahead of Norris in the drivers' world championship. 'That was tough, we weren't really planning on the one stop at the beginning but after the first lap that was our only option to get back into things,' Norris told broadcaster Sky Sports afterward. 'The final stint with Oscar catching, I was pushing flat out, it's rewarding even more because of that, the perfect result today.' Charles Leclerc began in pole position courtesy of a brilliant final lap in qualifying, but endured a difficult race and has now won just one of the last 16 races in which he has started at the front of the grid. He finished in fourth after being overtaken late on by George Russell, who claimed his first podium finish since he won the Canadian Grand Prix in June. For the first half of the race, Leclerc looked in total control. But during lap 29, cracks began to show as the Monégasque driver signaled to his team that something they had discussed before the race was affecting his car. He told broadcaster Sky Sports afterward that there had been an issue with the car's chassis. By the time he pitted on lap 40, Leclerc came out behind Norris and could not challenge the English driver. Suddenly, it was Piastri who looked most likely to catch Norris, especially after lap 51 when – on fresher tires – the Australian caught Leclerc and breezed past him at the first opportunity. 'This is so incredibly frustrating. We've lost all competitiveness,' said Leclerc on the team radio. 'Now it's just undriveable, undriveable. It's a miracle if we finish on the podium.' With just under 20 laps remaining, Piastri used his better tires to make up the 8.5-second gap on Norris, but could not quite pass him despite a thrilling attempt at an overtake on turn one with two laps to go. A seventh McLaren one-two of the season ensured a 200th grand prix victory for the team. No team has more than the 13 victories that McLaren has managed at Hungaroring. 'I pushed as hard as I could,' Piastri told broadcaster Sky Sports afterward. 'After I saw Lando go for a one (stop), I knew I was going to have to overtake on track which is much easier said than done here. 'It was a gamble either way. Today, unfortunately, we were just on the wrong side of it.' Elsewhere, Fernando Alonso finished in fifth, one place ahead of Gabriel Bortoleto, who achieved the best finish of his rookie season. Max Verstappen, who was racing for Red Bull for the 200th time and confirmed this week that he was staying with the team, finished in ninth. Lewis Hamilton's disappointing weekend did not see any improvement. A day after he called himself 'useless' and suggested Ferrari should drop him, the British driver, who has eight wins on this track, finished in 12th. This story has been updated with additional developments.
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Hülkenberg stung too
The Hungaroring one-two helped McLaren to its 200th grand prix victory ahead of the summer break Getty Images Lando Norris held off his charging McLaren teammate and championship leader Oscar Piastri, to claim victory in a captivating Hungarian Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc had led from pole until the second round of pit stops, when Piastri found the performance required to get by the Ferrari. From there Piastri hunted down Norris, who was attempting to get to the end of the race after just one pit stop, but Norris kept his cool to stay ahead over the final laps and take the checkered flag. F1 now departs for its summer break, with the action resuming for the Dutch Grand Prix on the final weekend of August. Result: 1 NOR, 2 PIA, 3 RUS, 4 LEC, 5 ALO Join the conversation: live@ GO FURTHER Hungarian Grand Prix: Norris wins a thriller over Piastri, Leclerc's victory evaporates LAP 8/70 — Nico Hülkenberg is facing the same investigation as Gabriel Bortoleto in the other Sauber — although now F1 has shown the start replays, the second Sauber's start looked far more blatantly ahead of the lights changing. LAP 6/70 — Gabriel Bortoleto is shining in sixth and ahead of Max Verstappen, but he's just been pinged for allegedly moving before the lights went out at the start. That's usually an automatic five-second penalty, but race control officials are assessing it right now. Getty Images LAP 5/70 — Speaking of the Ferraris, Charles Lerclerc is showing promising early pace here. His lead over Oscar Piastri is already heading towards three seconds, which compares favorably to everyone else. LAP 3/70 — Better news for Lando Norris, who swiftly gets back past Fernando Alonso. That feels important for him, albeit with a lot of work still to do. Max Verstappen gets by Lance Stroll to sit P7 too. But it's looking tricky right now on the hard tire for Lewis Hamilton. He's seen Kimi Antonelli and Carlos Sainz (on the softs) fly past to leave the second Ferrari P14. LAP 2/70 — Not a good start at all for Lando Norris. He moved to the inside at Turn 1 but boxed himself in a bit behind Oscar Piastri, allowing George Russell and then Fernando Alonso to get past him. Getty Images LAP 1/70 — Horrible start for Lando Norris. He's down to P5 simply by losing places. It didn't even look that untidy! LAP 1/70 — Away we go with the 2025 Hungarian Grand Prix! All of the top 10 are starting on medium tires today. Lewis Hamilton is on hards for the first stint, meaning it will be a long run before he comes in for his first stop. Pierre Gasly is also on hards. Carlos Sainz, Nico Hülkenberg and Alex Albon are on softs. Here we go. The formation lap is up and running. Charles Leclerc flies away quick-sharp. Getty Images Turn 1 is going to be all important today. When Oscar Piastri was asked yesterday in the news conference after qualifying if there was anywhere else to overtake, he wryly joked: 💬 'The pit lane.' Overtaking is very tough around here with so little grip offline. The first lap will be crucial. Getty Images The cars have made it round to the grid, where temperatures are several degrees cooler than they have been. There is even the odd shower around if you look hard enough, although right now it seems unlikely they'll affect this race. Lights out is almost with us… Getty Images Guns N' Roses lead singer songwriter Axl Rose is here! Don't cry if you see him first later either — he's set to wave the checkered flag at the end of the race. And with that it will be Paradise City with top step on the podium. (Sorry) Williams leaning hard into the appearance of a meme legend on the Hungaroring grid. There is a Lewis Hamilton or Alex Albon punchline to be had here involving Hide The Pain Harold following qualifying yesterday... But I'm not going there. This is how the Hungarian Grand Prix began four years ago. Obviously no one wants to encourage such carnage again but… Getty Images Contrast those emotions for Charles Leclerc, with how Lewis Hamilton was feeling in the moments after qualifying. The seven-time world champion made his inner monologue public too, as he spoke to reporters after qualifying: 💬 'Useless… The team has no problem. You've seen the car's on pole. So they probably need to change driver.' Madeline Coleman and Luke Smith pull apart a truly difficult day for the man who usually excels around the Hungaroring. GO FURTHER Lewis Hamilton calls himself 'useless' after F1 qualifying exit ahead of Hungarian Grand Prix Charles Leclerc has built a reputation for producing some very special qualifying laps throughout his Formula One career. He's started more than three times as many races from pole (27) as he has won (eight), often usurping quicker cars with some one-lap brilliance at the very end of qualifying. But yesterday at the Hungaroring, even Leclerc was baffled by what he'd just done... GO FURTHER How Charles Leclerc snared shock Ferrari Hungary pole: 'Today, I don't understand F1' When Fred Vasseur took charge of Ferrari, he became the latest in a long line of team principals tasked with ending the title drought for F1's most famous and successful team. But he knew it would take time. Ferrari had success through 2024 but failed to maintain that momentum going into 2025 and Lewis Hamilton's arrival, leaving it winless after the opening 13 races of the season. When a couple of reports in the Italian media emerged ahead of last month's Canadian Grand Prix, Vasseur came out swinging — saying he always knew he'd been 'exposed' as Ferrari team principal, such is the pressure and demand for success in that role. But he was unhappy at suggestions there could be changes within the team, saying it was 'completely disrespectful' to those working at Ferrari. The extended contract gives Vasseur the support and stability to get his vision in place. Two key figures, technical director Loic Serra and deputy team principal Jerome d'Ambrosio, arrived at the end of last year from Mercedes — serving as a boost to Vasseur's backroom team. With 2026's sweeping car design rule changes on the horizon, Vasseur's Ferrari will look to benefit from the reset as it tries to catch McLaren at the front and his plans for F1's most iconic team fall further into place. GO FURTHER Ferrari F1 team principal Fred Vasseur signs multi-year contract extension Luke Smith I'm down on the grid, and it's cooler than yesterday after some overnight rain and a bit of a breeze. Packed grandstand for the first race at the new facility here, really good atmosphere. Hungary is always a fun one! Here is pole man Charles Leclerc coming through on the grid. Getty Images It was August 24, 2003 that Fernando Alonso took his Renault and became the first Spaniard to win a Formula One grand prix. Now almost 22 years on, Alonso is in an Aston Martin starting from P5 and looking for his first podium finish since São Paulo 2023 — 40 races ago. If not better. Good luck to you, Fernando.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Hopefully I will be back – Lewis Hamilton dejected after Hungaroring nightmare
A dejected Lewis Hamilton said he will 'hopefully' return for Formula One's next race – after he cryptically claimed 'there is a lot going on in the background that is not great' following the Hungarian Grand Prix. A day after Hamilton described himself as 'absolutely useless', and called on his own Ferrari team to replace him, the seven-time world champion started 12th and finished in the same position at the Hungaroring, a lap behind winner Lando Norris. Charles Leclerc was fourth in the other Ferrari. Fronting up to TV cameras after the conclusion of the 14th race of his Ferrari career which has so far failed to live up to its pre-season hype, Hamilton was asked to reflect on his post-qualifying comments. 'When you have a feeling, you have a feeling,' he told Sky Sports. 'There is a lot going on in the background that is not great.' Asked if he had fallen out of love with racing, Hamilton replied: 'No, I still love the team.' Hamilton then headed for his session with the print media. Quizzed on how he felt a day on from being eliminated in Q2 – a performance made all the more harrowing after Leclerc took pole position, he replied: 'Same.' Put to him that his remarks suggesting that Ferrari 'need a new driver' would worry his fans, the British driver again replied: 'Same.' Asked if he had anything else to say other than 'the same', Hamilton said: 'I have got nothing else to say.' The sport now breaks for three weeks for its mid-season shutdown. The next race takes place in the Netherlands on August 31. 'Very much so,' said Hamilton, who was then asked if he was looking forward to the summer break. Quizzed as to whether he will definitely be driving at the next round in Zandvoort, Hamilton replied: 'I look forward to coming back… Hopefully I will be back, yeah.' Hamilton has won a record eight times at the Hungaroring but this has been an alarming weekend for the 40-year-old. Hamilton stood largely on his own for the drivers' parade, which takes place before every race, and was later accompanied by Italian rookie Kimi Antonelli. By the end of the first lap, he dropped behind Carlos Sainz and Antonelli and was 14th. At the end of the eighth lap, he was 20 seconds behind Leclerc, then leading, in the other Ferrari, and at the end of lap 14 he trailed his team-mate by half a minute. When he left the pits on lap 43 for his sole change of tyres, Hamilton was a lap down on the leaders. Hamilton fought back past Alpine's Pierre Gasly and then Sainz to cross the line in 12th. However, he is 42 points behind Leclerc, has been out-qualified by his team-mate at 10 of the 14 rounds, beaten him in only two races, at Imola and Silverstone, and is still awaiting his first podium in Ferrari colours. But Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, who oversaw six of Hamilton's record-equalling seven titles, said: 'Lewis is wearing his heart on his sleeve. 'It was very raw what he said. He was hard on himself. We have seen it before when he felt he had not met his own expectations. He's been that emotionally transparent since he was a young adult. 'But he is the GOAT. He will always be the GOAT. And nobody is going to take it away for any single weekends or a race season that hasn't gone to plan. That is something he always needs to remember – that he is the greatest of all time.' Hamilton's Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur added: 'I don't need to motivate him (Hamilton). He is frustrated but not demotivated, that is a different story. I can perfectly understand the situation.'
