The McLaren F1 celebrated its 30th birthday at the weekend - is it still the king of McLaren hypercars? We pitted it against the P1 and the Senna to find out
Well, and in a word, yes. For the avoidance of doubt, I’d have the F1 powertrain over the P1 equivalent every day of the week, month and year but that doesn’t make the P1 less than one hell of a car, and capable in ways the F1 simply cannot be.
But let’s look first at what they share, beyond a badge, all-carbon construction and very funky doors. And the curious thing is that despite the 20 years that separate them and the fact that very few of the people who worked on the F1 were still around in Woking to work on the P1, they still feel related. And it’s that sense of light and space in the cabin that does it.
The difference is that here the chassis is no longer cast in a supporting role to the engine. They get equal billing and provide a double act of what, even today, is rare ability. The P1 actually feels quicker in a straight line than the F1 becausefills in all the holes in the torque delivery, providing turbocharged shove with zero lag. It doesn’t sound beautiful like the F1 – in fact, it sounds quite ugly – but it somehow fits the maniacal rate at which it gathers speed.
But while you’re conservative with the F1’s entry speed into corners and downright cautious with its brakes, you can treat the P1 almost like a racing car. You can brake from 190mph, feel the carbon brakes shed 100mph like they’re shrugging off a coat and then fling it into a corner while still hard on the stoppers. Try that in the F1 and you’d be in the trees.
But on the track? Oh my goodness. The Senna is so good it actually makes the P1 feel if not actually clumsy then certainly its age. It feels like a racing car, or as much like a racing car as a street-legal tyre will permit in 2019. Its composure in quick corners is utterly unlike that of any other road car I’ve driven. Its precision, speed and feel at big speeds is simply sublime.
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