ART OF SPEED
McLaren F1 central driver’s seat
IIT’S BEEN OUT-MUSCLED ON THE DYNO, OVERTAKEN in the record books and dropped in a drag race on YouTube. Yet for many, the McLaren F1 shouldn’t be remembered as the progenitor of today’s hypercar but, 21 years after its launch, as its finest example. The ultimate car. Full stop.
It’s arguably the only car that could ever aspire to such heights: one man’s extraordinary vision carried through in perfect detail from start to finish. That man was Gordon Murray, the most dazzling Formula 1 designer of his generation. The F1 was the road car he’d wanted to build since his youth: a three-seat ‘sports car’ but, crucially, one with the driver’s seat out in front, centre stage. He pitched the idea that this could be the basis of the definitive driving machine, drawing heavily on Formula 1 experience and technology, to McLaren boss Ron Dennis, and his wish was granted, along with all the money and resources he needed to make it happen.
The F1 began life in the spring of 1990 as three chairs arranged in a delta pattern on the workshop floor. These were replaced a few months later by a crude wooden seating buck. The wooden buck evolved into three Corbeau sports seats, which in turn became a more sophisticated seating buck with a framework made from MDF and ply, with parallel lines of fishing wire to show screen surface. ‘Early versions gave a slightly uncomfortable “outside of car” feeling for side passengers,’ recalls team member Mark Roberts, ‘but by tweaking the A-pillar foot location you suddenly felt “inside” the car again.’
Sorting the control ergonomics from the centre seat was literally a hands-on exercise, with Murray and two colleagues agreeing the most natural feel for reach and rotation, and the push and pull actions of every knob and switch. Murray was adamant that the driver’s seat should be set back against the F1’s carbon bulkhead/fuel-tank cover, with no adjustment other than to slide fore and aft.
The central driving position required effort and a certain gymnastic dexterity to access, but that was only right. You savoured the moments. All of them. McLaren made 107 F1s and each one had a specially moulded carbon composite-shelled driving seat, upholstered in leather just 0.7mm thick, which was then tailored to the customer for fit and comfort – as were the steering wheel and the positioning of the pedals. The ultimate car with the ultimate driving position. That was the McLaren F1.