The McLaren P1 is a technological tour-de-force, proof that hybrid drivetrains can be used for power as well as for ecological reasons. The flame-throwing, properly unbalanced hypercar has turned every tester into a drop-jawed idiot struggling for the right words to explain the rush that is experienced when you’re allowed to cut loose and exploit it’s 900+ horsepower. The acceleration numbers are mental: it will do the quarter-mile in nine seconds, hit 60 MPH in under three seconds, and is electronically limited to 217 miles an hour. Then you have the McLaren F1. This was poster-car material, the radical alternative to the Lamborghini Diablo and Ferrari F40. A 243 MPH top speed was just the highlight of the beast that the McLaren engineers put together and still stands as the highest top-speed of a naturally-aspirated road car. The engine bay was lined with 16 oz. of gold foil to reflect heat from the BMW-sourced V12 engine. Whereas the P1 has computers and electronics galore, the F1 is a purists’ driving car, all mechanical, all analog. The centered driving position was purposeful, as McLaren wanted the driver to be, quite literally, the center of the car. Everything is driver-oriented first, everything else second.
EVO recently got a one-in-a-million shot at testing an F1 and a P1 back-to-back in southern France. Both cars are Chassis #46, both cars share the same paint (Genesis Blue), and both cars are McLaren’s greatest effort of their time for a road-going vehicle. After that, though, there are differences. Follow along with Henry Catchpole as he gets to do what very, very few individuals get to accomplish in a lifetime, which is wring out someone else’s very-damn-expensive car collection on an absolutely stunning ribbon of road.
