CREATING THE P1

Former exec director of Mclaren Special Operations, Paul Mackenzie, explains the challenge of succeeding the car many consider the greatest supercar ever. ‘We had one clear goal from the outset – to create the best car in the world on the road and on track,’ says Paul Mackenzie of the Mclaren P1’s design brief. ‘We wanted to design a car combining great levels of comfort and refinement with performance matched only by purpose-built race cars. But it needed the ability to switch from a 24/7 supercar to a totally uncompromising street-racer at the push of a button.’ Hence the non-road-legal Race Mode, lowering the car with the central hydropneumatic accumulator via pistons and actuators at each wheel, working in conjunction with ground-effect underbody venturi tunnels.

‘The P1 was the first venture into the use of hybrid technology to boost engine performance and improve efficiency and we didn’t have any experience of hybrid technology in the company – however, we took expertise from Mclaren Racing, which had worked on the KERS programme for its Formula One cars. The next challenge was smooth integration of the system into the drivability of the car without compromising performance or driver involvement.’ Although the P1’s design team rejected the use of KERS itself, the regenerative principles of the system, bolstered by a mains plug-in top-up function, was crucial to the design of the Mclaren E-motor.

But does it truly succeed the great Mclaren F1? Mackenzie is positive, but restrained. ‘I’m most proud that every team working on the car achieved or over-achieved to create a piece of engineering that is far beyond what we thought was possible,’ he says. ‘The F1 re-wrote the rulebook in terms of performance, and changed the automotive landscape. Nearly 30 years on, it is still one of the fastest cars in the world, and is a true icon. I feel the P1 proved itself as a worthy successor.’