McLaren has officially confirmed the name as W1, marking the next chapter in its storied ‘1’ car lineage, which previously included the classic McLaren F1 and the modern P1. The long-awaited successor to the McLaren P1 appears set to launch on October 6, and to live up to its iconic predecessor, it will have to be extraordinary. A few days ago, McLaren released a video looking back at the great F1 and P1 while suggesting that something new was in the works. An even more intriguing teaser has since been released and includes some of McLaren’s high-ranking executives and employees speaking about what defines a ‘1’ car from the brand.
According to McLaren, ‘1’ cars have to be
timeless, are “all about theater,” and need to be the best-sounding,
best-looking, and best-performing cars of their kind. It ends by saying, “It’s
time the world gets to see what McLaren is gonna do next,” before a date of
October 6, 13:00 BST appears on the screen. The teaser doesn’t confirm if the
new car will be unveiled in full on October 6 or if McLaren simply intends to
preview its next hypercar on that date, perhaps with some more teasers.
Whatever the case may be, it makes clear the new creation is just around the
corner.
The name of the car remains a mystery.
It’s currently codenamed P18, but that isn’t expected to be retained for the
production model. The focus on the ‘1’ name through this clip is a strong
suggestion that, like the F1 and P1, it will simply have a single letter before
the 1. We have no idea what this letter could be and finding one that has the
same ring to it as F1 and P1 is difficult. The McLaren R1 sounds nice, but
Yamaha uses R1 for one of its motorbikes. Z1 would also fit, but that’s been
used by BMW, albeit decades ago.
Overall, the new hypercar is shaping up to
be something very special. It’s expected to use a bespoke V8 that’s unrelated
to the mill found in the 750S, and will be supplemented by a hybrid system
roughly 70% lighter than McLaren’s current hybrid systems. Power should sit
well beyond the 1,000 hp mark.