McLaren will reveal the next model in its Ultimate Series of hypercars on October 6, just over a decade after the P1 arrived as the successor to the iconic F1. A video published by the company features these two legendary hypercars and reveals that “the next benchmark” is inbound.
- P1 successor to continue with a petrol-hybrid powertrain
- Has been internally codenamed as the P18
The new car is anticipated to take advantage of the developments in electrification made since the P1 was launched 12 years ago. McLaren has said on numerous occasions that a generational change in technologies would be necessary to justify a new ‘1’ car.
With a pure-electric McLaren supercar some years away, this next ‘1’ hypercar is set to have a high-output hybrid powertrain that will easily outpace the 916hp P1. It will likely use an all-new V8 engine that is completely unrelated to the one used in McLaren’s current line-up, along with a next-generation hybrid system. Power figures can be expected to go past the 1000hp mark.
The name of the car remains a mystery, though. It’s currently codenamed P18, but that is not expected to be retained for the production model. However, like the P1 and F1 before it, the new hypercar will likely retain the ‘1’ in its name.
Meanwhile, McLaren chief Michael Leiters told our sister publication Autocar UK last year that the company was “not sure” about electric supercars yet because of their current weight. “We don’t want to make a car that is 2000kg and 2000hp – anybody can do that,” said Leiters. “We want to make a car that is comparable to the 750 weight-wise.” Such a car will be possible “maybe at the end of the decade”, he added.
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