January 18, 2007 5:15 AM PST
McLaren Mercedes Formula 1 car debuts
The McLaren Mercedes MP4-22 had its track debut at the Valencia circuit in Spain on Wednesday.
(Credit:
McLaren)
There were some glitches, however. World Champion Fernando Alonso was forced to return to the pit at one point when smoke began to come out from the back of the car, according to Autosport.
(Credit:
McLaren)
Alonso completed 57 laps with his fastest time on the track (after the smoking pit stop) at 1 minute, 12.053 seconds.
The test follows the announcement that Vodafone is releasing three Formula One cell phones to celebrate its sponsorship of the McLaren Mercedes team.
In a software-driven world, it's easy to forget about the nuts and bolts. Whether it's cars, robots, personal gadgetry or industrial machines, Candace Lombardi examines the moving parts that keep our world rotating. A journalist who divides her time between the United States and the United Kingdom, Lombardi has written about technology for the sites of The New York Times, CNET, USA Today, MSN, ZDNet, Silicon.com, and GameSpot. E-mail her at candacelombardi@gmail.com. She is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not a current employee of CNET. 
