Cars 2 is the Pixar Cars film built around the international World Grand Prix.
In the film, race car Francesco Bernoulli challenges Lightning McQueen in a three-race competition created by oil magnate Miles Axlerod. The events take place in locations including Tokyo, Porto Corsa, and London, giving the sequel a much more international scale than the original Cars.
The World Grand Prix plot is intertwined with an espionage story. Mater becomes involved with British agents Finn McMissile and Holley Shiftwell after being mistaken for an American spy. The combination of racing and spy action makes Cars 2 tonally different from the first film and from Cars 3.
Cars 2 was released in 2011 and was directed by John Lasseter and Brad Lewis. It is the second feature in the Pixar trilogy, not the first. The later film Cars 3 returns the emphasis to McQueen’s racing career and his response to younger competitors.