McLaren W1 First Drive: The P1 Successor Delivers

> First Drive verdict: The W1 delivers. McLaren's third "1" car honours the F1 and P1 lineage not by chasing every technological trend but by ruthlessly pursuing one thing: driving purity. Rear-drive only, no torque vectoring, obsessively light, with hydraulic steering for feel — it's agile, involving and honest in a way few modern hypercars manage. All 399 are sold. First impressions: a landmark achievement.

Following two legends

Few cars carry a burden like this one. The McLaren W1 is the third car in McLaren's "1" lineage — following the F1, still the world's fastest naturally-aspirated road car, and the P1, one third of the "Holy Trinity" alongside the LaFerrari and Porsche 918. Those are two of the most significant performance cars ever built, and following them is a near-impossible brief.

Named for McLaren's first Formula 1 constructors' championship (50 years on), the W1 is a £2 million / ~$2.1–2.2 million hypercar limited to 399 units — every one already sold. We drove it at Italy's Mugello Circuit, and our first impressions are emphatic: McLaren has delivered. Not by out-teching everyone, but by making a series of hard, unfashionable engineering choices in pursuit of one thing — driving purity.

The unfashionable choices that define it

What makes the W1 special isn't what McLaren added; it's what it deliberately refused to add:

1. Rear-wheel drive only. In an era when rivals (the Ferrari 849, the Aston Valhalla) use electrified front axles for AWD and torque vectoring, the W1 is exclusively rear-driven. McLaren's reasoning is purist: the front wheels doing no driving means the steering is uncorrupted, delivering feel that AWD systems inevitably muddy.

2. No torque vectoring. McLaren deliberately omitted it. The thinking: rather than using software to make the car feel agile, engineer it to be naturally agile. Hardware over algorithms.

3. Not a plug-in hybrid. Unlike the P1, the W1's hybrid system can't be plugged in — because a charging system would add weight. That's the whole philosophy in one decision.

4. Obsessive lightness. McLaren claims a lightest dry weight of 1,399 kg, with a shorter wheelbase (80 mm shorter than the Valhalla's) enabled by mounting the steering rack to the carbon tub. Every gram was fought for.

5. Hydraulic steering and brakes. In an age of electric assistance and brake-by-wire, McLaren stuck with conventional hydraulic systems purely to maximise driver feedback. Less show, more feel.

The numbers

| Spec | McLaren W1 | |---|---| | Price | ~£2 million / ~$2.1–2.2 million | | Production | 399 units — all sold | | Engine | All-new 4.0L (3,988 cc) twin-turbo flat-plane-crank V8 | | Engine output | 916 hp @ revs to 9,200 rpm; 664 lb-ft | | E-motor | Radial-flux, 24,000 rpm, +342 hp — the module weighs just 20 kg | | Combined | 1,258 hp / 988 lb-ft — most powerful road McLaren ever | | 0–60 mph | 2.7 sec · 0–186 mph in under 12.7 sec (4 sec faster than P1) | | Top speed | 217 mph | | Downforce | up to 2,205 lb at 174 mph (Active Long Tail rear wing extends 11.8 in) | | Weight | 1,399 kg dry (claimed lightest) | | Transmission | 8-speed dual-clutch, rear-wheel drive |

Note the hybrid module: 40 kg lighter than the P1's while delivering twice the power. That's a decade of engineering progress in one component.

What it's like at Mugello

Agile and involving in an honest, linear way. This is the overwhelming impression, and it's the highest praise. The W1 doesn't feel like a computer managing physics on your behalf — it feels like a car you're genuinely driving. The uncorrupted steering delivers real information; the natural agility (rather than software-manufactured agility) means the car responds honestly to inputs. As Autocar put it, it's impressive above all for being agile and involving in an honest, linear way.

Fast enough to be beyond comprehension — but usable. 1,258 hp is a number you cannot fully exploit on any road, and rarely on track. McLaren's cleverness is making the W1 enjoyable without using all of it. The performance is monumental (0–186 mph four seconds quicker than a P1), but the car is engaging at speeds well below its limits — the mark of genuine chassis quality rather than mere power.

The bandwidth is extraordinary. In Comfort mode the e-motor mostly provides torque fill to smooth gearchanges, and the V8 stays civil. Select Race and the suspension drops (1.5 inches at the front, 0.7 at the rear), the aero deploys, and it becomes a different animal. Hagerty called it "the anytime hypercar" — genuinely usable, then genuinely extreme.

Feels every bit a £2 million car. The materials, the engineering density, the sense of occasion — and small delights like colour-changeable sparkle LEDs behind the door materials. It justifies its price in a way not every hypercar does.

The one genuine criticism

The engine could sound more musical. This is the consistent note in the coverage, and it's fair. The all-new V8 is a technical marvel — 350-bar direct injection, plasma-sprayed bores, diamond-like carbon coatings, revving to 9,200 rpm — but it's not the most emotionally stirring-sounding engine at this level. It's a criticism of character, not capability.

Note the parallel with our Ferrari 849 first drive: both cars face questions about engine soul rather than engineering. The difference is that the W1's chassis purity gives it a compelling answer — the driving experience carries the emotion the engine note doesn't quite supply.

How it compares

Ferrari 849 Testarossa: the AWD hybrid alternative — more power-assisted complexity, and (per critics) more clinical. The W1's rear-drive purity is the sharper philosophical counterpoint.

Aston Martin Valhalla: the other new hybrid hypercar (see our separate first drive) — the W1's rear-drive, lightweight approach is the more focused; the Valhalla's ambition is broader.

Ferrari F80 / limited-run elite: the rarefied tier above, where the W1 competes on engineering rather than exclusivity alone.

The bottom line

The McLaren W1 delivers on the impossible brief of following the F1 and P1 — and it does so by refusing to follow fashion. Rear-drive only, no torque vectoring, no plug-in system, hydraulic steering, obsessive weight-saving: every choice sacrifices a spec-sheet bragging right in service of driving purity. The result, at Mugello, is a 1,258 hp hypercar that's agile and involving in an honest, linear way — enjoyable well below its limits, monumental at them, and unmistakably a £2 million machine. The engine could sing more sweetly; that's the only real criticism. All 399 are sold, and their owners are getting something genuinely special: the rare modern hypercar that puts the driver, not the software, at the centre. A landmark, and a worthy third "1".

• The McLaren W1 is the third "1" car after the F1 and P1 — £2m, 399 units, all sold, driven at Mugello
• 1,258 hp combined (916 hp twin-turbo V8 revving to 9,200 rpm + 342 hp e-motor), 0–60 in 2.7 sec, 217 mph
• Defined by unfashionable purist choices: rear-drive only, no torque vectoring, no plug-in (weight), hydraulic steering, 1,399 kg dry
• The result is agile and involving in an honest, linear way — enjoyable below its limits, extraordinary at them
• One fair criticism: the technically brilliant engine could sound more musical. Otherwise, a landmark achievement

Key takeaways

• The McLaren W1 is the third "1" car after the F1 and P1 — £2m, 399 units, all sold, driven at Mugello
• 1,258 hp combined (916 hp twin-turbo V8 revving to 9,200 rpm + 342 hp e-motor), 0–60 in 2.7 sec, 217 mph
• Defined by unfashionable purist choices: rear-drive only, no torque vectoring, no plug-in (weight), hydraulic steering, 1,399 kg dry
• The result is agile and involving in an honest, linear way — enjoyable below its limits, extraordinary at them
• One fair criticism: the technically brilliant engine could sound more musical. Otherwise, a landmark achievement