McLaren W1 | PH Review

Two years ago, McLaren said its hypercar would deliver a 'world-beating' experience - can the W1 justify the hype

By Paul Bailey / Monday, 29 June 2026 / Loading comments

When 15 years ago, McLaren Automotive arrived and dropped the MP4-12C supercar right into Ferrari territory, it was a bold statement of intent. And while the two manufacturers’ ranges don’t always go entirely toe to toe – largely because McLaren’s dedication to mid-engined, carbon-fibre cars means it hasn’t had as broad a range as Ferrari’s – when the big-name models arrive, they do so in sync. See the LaFerrari and P1 from the last decade. And in this one, following the very recent F80, comes the McLaren W1.

The third ‘1’ car, then, after the F1 and the P1 (although the original 1 was from a different generation of McLaren road cars) has a lot to live up to. And a surprisingly large number of cars to go up against. While mid-positioning the engine and wrapping the occupants in carbon are things that only McLaren would do at the lower end of the market, by the time we’re talking millions of pounds and/or thousands of horses, it’s what everyone does. Aston Martin has the Valkyrie and Valhalla, Ferrari the F80, Lamborghini nudges into that sphere with the Revuelto and GMA’s offerings are not unadjacent in layout. You could add even more niche players too.

Where McLaren does it differently to most though is that, while many have four-wheel drive to cope with such enormous power outputs, it has stayed true to its roots and retained rear-drive exclusively. They didn’t want to add weight unless they absolutely had to, McLaren’s engineers told PH at the W1’s launch in Mugello, Italy.

So to the details. The W1 has a carbon tub but it’s laid up by hand in pre-preg carbon rather than laid up dry and pressed with resin like McLaren’s series production cars. This is more labour-intensive but saves making huge injection mould tools. There’s an all-new engine, a 4.0-litre V8 and flat-plane cranked like previous McLaren eights, but they say it’s new and mean it. It has spray-coated bores rather than liners, meaning it can be smaller and lighter than the current V8 - although they haven’t designed a new engine just for 399 cars, so it’ll get other outings later. It makes 928hp in its first application and has twin-turbochargers.

It drives through an eight-speed twin-clutch transmission to which an electric motor is attached, providing an additional 347hp, so dependent on your drive mode you can have up to 1,275hp. McLaren claims some pretty serious numbers: 0-60mph in 2.7 seconds, 124mpg in 5.8, 186mph in 12.7 and on to 217mph limited. All coming through the back wheels via an electronically controlled limited-slip diff.

There’s no front subframe, so the suspension and hydraulic steering are mounted to the tub, and any aluminium structures sticking out the front of that are crash structures plus mounts for rads and bodywork and some of the many aero devices. There is a rear aluminium subframe. Ferrari went carbon with the top section of its rear frame, but McLaren hasn’t. Though it has less tech (or weight) to incorporate – i.e. no e-turbos, front motors, and simpler suspension. This is a 1,399kg (dry) car, it says.

The suspension is a new McLaren design. The W1 features double-wishbones all round with passive coil springs and adaptive dampers, but the ride height can be lowered - by 37mm at the front and 17mm at the back - in which mode additional springs are also brought into play, by locking-out heave bars that connect them to the suspension. This massively ups the spring rate in this lower ‘race’ mode, in which the active aero also undergoes big differences, extending the rear wing by a foot, so much so in fact that you can’t use it on the road like that.

The fancy aero, which puts a maximum of 1,000kg of downforce on the car, is so extreme that the W1 doesn’t have McLaren’s trademark dihedral opening doors, because the hinge would be right where the airflow is directed around the wheel well. They call these ones anhedral instead – or swinging gullwings to us.

They open onto a cockpit that has less obvious carbon fibre than the P1 that McLaren had on static display at Mugello. Instead, the test cars were finished in a material called InnoKnit, which is a new McLaren thing created for this car and which again I’m sure we’ll see more of later. I guess you’d call it a technical fabric.

It’s on the seats, which, in the style of carbon race cars like the Ford GT, are fixed to the tub. McLaren had a naked chassis for inspection and it’s cool how many components have more than one job. The seat base structure is also a boom box for the audio, and the seat cushions are inserted into that. It means that they only have to factor in the driver seated in one specific location, which has all kinds of advantages, from packaging to visibility. It also means that these seats don’t flex. And it keeps the car lighter.

Visibility is good because the A-pillars are relatively thin and because the front suspension is activated by pushrods, which means the coilovers can be mounted horizontally rather than vertically, thereby not intruding on the driver’s vision. Other bonuses are a lower unsprung kerbweight and cleaner aero around those wheel wells. And instead of the seat moving, the pedal box is sprung so you push it away until your legs are happy. The steering column and its instrument binnacle, including the buttons and levers on top for adjusting powertrain and chassis drive modes, move electrically.

We got a drive on track, then the road. The W1’s pretty loud on start-up, even if you’re wearing a bash hat. If there are any stones attached to the sticky Pirelli P Zero Trofeo tyres you’ll hear them ping against the carbon tub as you roll down pitlane, too. The sound is pretty hollow, I think attractive, though maybe not as sonorous as the Ferrari. And if you’ve driven any other McLaren you’ll be familiar with some aspects of how the W1 moves. Not only is the steering still hydraulic, but so are the brakes, mighty 390mm carbon ceramic discs, something that cars with electric axles or any kind of braking battery regen are denied.

The McLaren’s hybrid system is instead as pure as it can be. The 1.4kWh battery is charged by the engine and not by blending regen-braking into disc-braking. In the Race mode we used on track, you can have it last a session or let it all expend in one lap. Whatever drive mode you’re in, there’s a Boost button that’ll unleash full power when it can.

Do so and the W1 is one of those cars that’s so shockingly fast that it resets your senses. The engine spins to 9,200rpm but such is the nature of a turbo, even a revvy one like this - and with such a lot of electric assistance - that I didn’t feel necessary to take it all the way there all the time. In fact in some slower corners, given the car’s only rear drive, a short shift is the smarter move. The W1 is not as heavily hybridised as some hypercars but still, given it doesn’t weigh as much either, it pulls from low revs easily and keeps going to the moon. The top speed is limited because if it went faster it’d need a different type of tyre construction, which McLaren didn’t want. (There are three types of Pirelli, by the way: P Zeroes, these Trofeos or a winter option. They’re all 265/35/R19 fronts, 335/30/R20 rears.)

Braking feel is brilliant, and gets better the later you brake and the harder you push. The steering weight is consistent, maybe heavier than some of the electric systems around, but perfectly judged and it’s a real treat to feel something so honest and free from corruption, allowed by the fact that the front wheels only have to steer and brake.

The handling balance is set up with a tiny bit of initial understeer if you want it, and your choice of oversteer levels if you don’t. There’s no artificiality to it. It feels nimble because even with fluids it’s gotta be, what, around 1,500kg? That said, I’m glad our day was hot and dry. Two wheels can handle this amount of power, even though some rivals don’t think so. But a dose of rain might put a different spin on it. Body control is, as you might imagine, super tight. Running over kerbs puts some vibes through the cockpit, but I wouldn’t call it harsh. McLaren’s typically have a deftness to them.

To really show that off, though, requires a drive on the road. We rode on the same tyres on the road, though in the car’s higher ride height, in which you have a choice of Comfort or Sport damper modes. The steering has a different assistance level in its road mode to the track one: lighter, more chilled, but still with that hydraulic niceness that McLaren puts into all of its cars. If you think there’s a difference between Comfort and Sport, it’s just that the different damping rates make it feel that way.

And the W1 really does ride well on the road. All McLarens, right back to that original 12C, have done so, regardless of whether they’ve chosen conventional springs or the fancy hydraulically-linked stuff they’ve put on the supercars. A new format again here, but the same kind of easy breathing, crashless rolling refinement coupled with no shortage of control, for the most part. I guess we shouldn’t single out the W1 here though; most modern hypercars manage to ride pretty well.

The W1 is wide – 2191mm to go with its 4,635mm length and 1,182mm height – but given you can see out of it so well, it’s not intimidating. There are small dropping windows through which you could reach a toll booth, and glass is an option for the tops of the doors, which won’t be taken up in sunnier markets. There’s even a little bit of luggage space behind the occupants in the back of the tub – where there’s no rear window. Apparently it’s tall enough for crash helmets.

The W1 is comfortable enough and fun enough that I can imagine buyers using that space for luggage during lengthy drives, maybe taking in a circuit on the way. It’s the kind of car that isn’t wearing on a road trip (I guess – we had two short track stints and around 90 minutes on the road), and yet which is incredibly fast and super special if you do get it into the zone where you can use all of its prodigious grunt.

When that MP4-12C first arrived, it’s fair to say it improved the quality of the opposition it was up against. Fifteen years on, the big supercar hitters – and those around them – are still making supercars and hypercars that are getting better and better. I think the W1 goes toe-to-toe against any of them.

Specification | McLaren W1

Engine: 3988cc, V8, twin-turbo, hybrid
Transmission: 8-speed automatic, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 1275 (engine 928@9,200rpm, motor 347)
Torque (lb ft): 988@4,500-5,000rpm
0-62mph: 2.7 seconds
Top speed: 217mph
Weight: 1399kg (dry)
MPG: tbc
CO2: <310/km (WLTP)
Price: £2,000,000