2019 McLaren F1 to feature new hybrid tech

Autocar understands this car will switch to a downsized turbocharged V6 that will work in conjunction with the electric aspect of the powertrain.

Although Flewitt refused to be drawn on cylinder count, he said there is no ideological barrier to smaller engines at McLaren. “For us, it’s all about attributes,” he said. “If we can get the performance, it doesn’t matter if it’s 12 or 10 or eight or six. We’re not wedded to cylinder count, but we are wedded very much to performance and excitement.”

Flewitt is determined to claw back as much of the hybrid system’s extra weight as possible. A smaller engine is an obvious way of doing that.

“With the P1, hybridisation added about 140kg,” he said. “To be weight neutral, we’ve got to take out about 140kg. That’s pretty hard, but if we can get close, we can have both the weight benefit and the performance benefit.”

UNIQUE POSITIONING

Flewitt said the BP23 will be a totally different proposition from the P1 (pictured below), its immediate predecessor in McLaren’s Ultimate Series.

Whereas the P1 was pitched as the ultimate sports car, the BP23 will be all about supreme levels of on-road performance and usability. It will be an “incredible road car”, according to Flewitt, rather than being designed to lap a circuit quickly. This means the suspension and aerodynamics will be optimised for covering long distances quickly and in comfort, and not compromised by a need to perform on a track.

Flewitt said only Bugatti had made cars to a similar brief in recent times. “With the exception of Bugatti, people who create high-performance cars make them for track,” he told Autocar at the recent Geneva motor show.

Talking about the differences between the P1 and the BP23,  Flewitt said each Ultimate Series model will have its own unique positioning and purpose and the BP23 will have “a different impact” from the P1.

There will not necessarily always be an Ultimate Series model in production, either, hence the interval between the end of P1 production in 2016 and the arrival of the BP23.

Despite being a three-seater, the carbonfibre-bodied BP23 is not being pitched as a replacement for the threeseat F1, but more an homage to it. On its three-seat layout, Flewitt said a lot of work had been done to make access for the driver as easy as possible and it was “very different technically” from the F1. The driver’s seat will be full-sized and the two passenger seats either side of it will be slightly smaller, but still capable of accommodating adults.

Flewitt said: “It can be difficult to get into the central seat in a three-seater, but this is more accessible than the F1.”

The production run of 106 units is the same as the original F1’s and customers were chosen by McLaren for their loyalty to the brand and as people who regularly drive their McLarens rather than own them as investments.

“It’s not gone to people who just own P1s,” said Flewitt. “I want people who’ve had the 570S, 650S, 675LT and so on, and who are using them. It’s people who are loyal to the brand and using the cars who have the opportunity to buy [the BP23], not those who want the car for a collection, or to have the latest thing, or to speculate on the price. It is going to people who enjoy it.”

MSO INVOLVEMENT

The car is being designed and developed by McLaren’s usual road car team, but each model will then be handed to McLaren Special Operations (MSO), headed by Ansar Ali, who has previous experience with Caterham, Lotus and Zenos. Ali will work with each customer to personalise their cars, ensuring no two models are the same.

Comment: why McLaren Special Operations is important for the firm

The ‘BP2’ in the car’s codename signifies that this is the second bespoke product to come from MSO and the ‘3’ refers to its three seats.

McLaren Special Operations to produce more one-off cars

The BP23’s carbonfibre structure will incorporate elements of the new one being developed for production in 2020 at McLaren’s new Sheffield manufacturing facility, but it will also retain the bulkheads from McLaren’s existing structure.