Formula 1's class of 2021 has been further expanded today with two of the most highly anticipated new cars of the year. First up is the Alpine A521, which is an evolution of the 2020 Renault Grand Prix car. Like the previous Renaults, the first ever Alpine to race in Formula 1 is a collaboration of the chassis arm in Enstone, England and the engine factory in Viry-Chatillon, France. With development limited by the special regulations for 2021 and the team keeping most new parts under wraps, the key news of today's A521 launch was the new red, white and blue livery. This is set to be one of the most striking on the grid this year. Also of note is that two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso will return for his third spell with the team.
Defending World Champions Mercedes-Benz will field this W12 E Performance in 2021. The car utilises the chassis of last year's title winning W11 with the team deciding to use the available development tokens for aerodynamics. Again little was visible on the renders of the W12 released. The livery features some subtle changes and includes the AMG logo instead of the three-pointed star logos that dominated the colour-scheme in 2020. Underneath the skin, there is a substantially improved engine that should cure the reliability issues that dogged the Mercedes-engined teams several times last year.
There will be no hiding for the teams once testing starts in Bahrain next week, so you can expect further updates after the cars have hit the track.

One of the most highly anticipated new supercars is the Gordon Murray Automotive T.50. In addition to the road legal example, there will be a T.50s circuit version of the 'Fancar' as well. Officially announced earlier this week, it will be named the Niki Lauda in honour of the late Austrian racer, who raced in the original fancar Brabham. The T.50s is lighter and has a bit more power than the road car, while the aerodynamics have also been reworked to better suit track conditions. Professor Murray decided to limit the downforce generated by the car to ensure it could still be driven by the wealthy amateur racers the car is intended for. Only 25 will be built with deliveries due to start in 2023.
Red Bull Racing have revealed a first glimpse of their 2021 F1 car; the RB16B. It has a revised rear suspension compared to last year's car and there should be some more changes that have yet to be revealed by the Austrian-owned, British team.
The big motorsport news of this week is that Ferrari will return to top level sports car racing with a new Le Mans Hypercar in 2023. It is the first time in 50 year since the Italian manufacturer has fielded a works sports car effort and the last prototype racing successes date back to 1998 when this 333 SP won both the Daytona 24 Hours and Sebring 12 Hours outright.
Currently under development at Porsche is the Taycan Cross Turismo, which is undergoing a stringent testing campaign around the world. As can be seen in the teaser images, it is a shooting brake version of Porsche's first all-electric production car.

It is Formula 1 launch season and today we can reveal the new cars from Alfa Romeo Racing and Scuderia AlphaTauri. The Italian-backed Swiss team will race this Ferrari-engined C41 during the upcoming World Championship. It is a development of the C39 used last year with most of the development tokens spent on the front-end and nose of the car. The reason that the new Alfa Romeo Racing machine is dubbed the C41 is that the C40 had already been used for the car that had originally been developed for the all-new regulations that have now been postponed to 2022.
A race winner in 2020, Scuderia AlphaTauri took the wraps off the AT02 late last week. It will be raced by Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda, and should benefit from a considerable engine upgrade provided by Honda in their final year in Formula 1.
The Alfa Romeo Racing cars are built by Sauber in Switzerland. Among the many interesting cars in the Swiss team's history is the C14, which was raced during the 1995 season. It was driven to Sauber's first podium finish and also brought major sponsors Red Bull and Petronas into the sport.
Maserati, meanwhile, revealed a first glimpse of the Grecale SUV that is currently under development. As shown in the images, road testing of the prototypes has already started.

This week, McLaren revealed the all-new Artura, which replaces the 570S and derivatives. Powered by a hybrid drivetrain, it is the first modern McLaren not powered by a version of the twin-turbo V8. Instead, it boasts an all-new V6 engine with a wide V-angle to allow the two turbochargers to sit between the cylinder heads. Combined with the electric motor, the hybrid drivetrain is good for a peak power of 670 bhp. Despite all the additional equipment, the Artura has a kerb weight of less than 1,500 kg thanks to a sophisticated carbon-fibre composite monocoque. The first examples of the all-new McLaren should be with the customers early in the summer.
Morgan meanwhile revived the Plus 8 for a new limited production model. Dubbed the Plus 8 GTR, it is inspired by the 1990s Plus 8 GTR GT2 racer. Raced by Charles Morgan himself, this was the first Morgan built around the bonded and riveted monocoque chassis that was later used by the Aero models. Painted bright blue, the one-off Plus 8 GTR was better known to Morgan enthusiasts as 'Big Blue.' The new Plus 8 GTR is built on recommissioned, unused chassis of the Plus 8 road car of which production had officially stopped in 2018. Limited to just nine examples, it is the first in a line of a series of Morgan special projects.

This afternoon, Porsche took the wraps of the new 992-generation 911 GT3. The hardcore road car is powered by a 503 bhp version of the naturally aspirated four-litre engine. This is mated to either a manual or automatic gearbox. The new 911 GT3 is the fastest evolution yet. This was underlined by Joerg Bergmeister, who lapped the 'Ring a whole 17 seconds quicker than the time set by its predecessor.
The first 2021 Formula 1 car to break cover is this McLaren MCL35M, which was revealed last night. Due to the global pandemic, the sport decided to limit development but McLaren was already committed to a change of engine supplier. So, as the name suggests, the MCL35 is effectively last year's car with a Mercedes instead of a Renault engine. Signed to drive the bright orange McLaren are Lando Norris and newcomer Daniel Ricciardo.
With this striking E-R9 show car, Lotus offer a glimpse of the future; 2030 to be more precise. It is the British company's vision for the type of car that would race at Le Mans that year. The E-R9 is inspired by the Lotus Mark IX, which raced at Le Mans in 1955. The 2030 edition of the 24 Hours would be the 75th anniversary of the car's debut at Le Mans.

The next major auction on what seems a relentless schedule is tomorrow's RM Sotheby's Paris sale. This is a livestream sale, which allows for remote bidding only. Today we take a look at three of the most interesting lots to cross the block. The rarest of this trio is the unique Isdera Commendatore 112i, which was originally shown at the 1993 Frankfurt Motor Show. The striking machine is powered by a Mercedes-Benz V12 engine and famously starred in the Need for Speed II video game. It was later modified but has since been restored to its original configuration by Isdera themselves. The one-off Commendatore has now been consigned by Isdera and is offered at no reserve.
Also available in the sale are two recent V12-engined Ferraris. One is the original F12tdf prototype that was shown at the car's 2015 Finali Mondiali debut. It was eventually auctioned off for charity to celebrate Enzo Ferrari's 120th birthday. The winning bidder of that sale has now consigned the F12tdf to the Paris auction. Not as well publicised is the 599 GTZ Nibbio Spyder, which was based on a 2009 599 GTB and later modified by Zagato to its current configuration. It is believed that just nine 599s were modified to Nibbio guise by the Milanese coach-builder in the last couple of years. Chassis 165830 was signed off by Zagato early in 2020 and has been barely used since.
Audi have expanded the all-electric e-tron line-up with this very aggressive looking and very powerful RS e-tron GT. Courtesy of front- and rear-mounted electric motors, the RS e-tron GT has a combined 590 bhp on tap.
Czech specialist racing car builder Praga have introduced a comprehensively revised version of the mid-engined R1. It has a more powerful engine, a larger fuel tank and still weighs in at just 643 kg. Among the series for which the compact machine is eligible is the Britcar Endurance Championship where its predecessor won the championship in 2020 with seven outright victories in nine races.