Does the McLaren P1 live up to the legacy of the F1?
The McLaren F1 was the brain-child of Gordon Murray, the man who helped design numerous Formula One race winning cars for McLaren in the mid-late 80’s and early 90’s. Murray moved to the McLaren cars team in 1991 where he dreamed up and delivered one of the most iconic road cars ever produced, the McLaren F1. This was the first road car to use Formula One technology in its design. This allowed the designers to push the boundaries of what was possible and produce a car that would be unmatched in performance until 2005 when the Koenigsegg CCR reached a top speed of 241.63 mph (388.87 km/h), beating the F1’s top speed by 1.53 mph.
With the introduction of McLaren’s first ‘Ultimate series’ car, the P1, the design language has not changed from when the F1 was introduced. McLaren still strives to create the fastest, lightest, most technical and visually appealing cars you can buy. Much like how the F1 was the first road car to use Formula One technology, the P1 continues that idea and introduces technologies such as DRS (drag reduction system) and IPAS (instant power assistance system).
These systems are typically found only on race cars, particularly Formula One cars, and not road cars offered to average drivers. The P1 also uses active aerodynamics to achieve its astonishing performance figures. The P1 can reach 62 mph (100 km/h) in 2.8 seconds and continue on to an electronically limited top speed of 217 mph (350 km/h). On top of all the Formula One derived technologies thrown into the McLaren P1, the car uses McLaren’s ‘shrink-wrap’ design philosophy where the body panels are as close to the internals as possible. McLaren’s design director, Frank Stephenson explains some of his vision for the P1.
“The engineering priority was always unmatched aerodynamic performance. My role as a designer was to make it look dramatic and beautiful. I wanted it to look like a purposeful racer with that low body, long rear deck and open-mesh rear styling to put the mechanicals on view and help cooling. Plus there’s the most aggressive rear diffuser ever seen on a road car. Like everything on the McLaren P1, it’s there for a good reason”.
Although the P1 has not competed in any race series, McLaren have created a race-inspired version of the car, the P1 GTR. Much like the F1 GTR it is a more hardcore, stripped out version of the P1. With this variant of the P1 only being offered to ‘standard’ P1 owners, the desirability of the car is unmatched. The GTR version of the P1 was never intended to be road legal however, if you have the money McLaren will make you a road legal version. McLaren also made a very limited number of carbon series P1s, just 5 were ever made. Five ‘standard’ P1s were shipped back to Woking England the home of McLaren where all exterior panels were replaced with carbon panels. The owners could choose any combination of colours they wanted for the carbon fiber. The interior also got and upgrade thanks to MSO, McLaren Special Operations, where again any combination of colours for the alcantara and carbon fiber could be chosen.
So, has the McLaren P1 lived up to the legacy left behind by the F1? In my opinion it has done more than just live up to that legacy, it has surpassed that and created a new legacy for McLaren as a company. With the production of the McLaren P1 over now, whatever the next ultimate series car is from McLaren has a lot to live up to. The performance of the P1 is already out of this world, I can only imagine what McLaren will come up with next.
