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McLaren’s super hybrid P1 reasserts British dominance on Germany’s Nurburgring track

official mclaren p1 may just done fastest ever lap nurburgring track
This mind-bending image must capture a bit of what it is like to see the McLaren P1 on the track. Image used with permission by copyright holder

The more we know about the McLaren P1, the more I am sure it is made of magic; not just carbon fiber and the souls of F1 engineers.

Yesterday we got a look at some of the performance figures; now the internet has maybe just given us a glimpse of what those figures mean when you show the P1 a bit of track. YouTube user swsthebest1994 posted a video of the McLaren P1 at the Nurburgring and claimed that it just achieved a 6:47 lap time.

Previously, it had been reported by the fine folks at Bridge to Gantry that the P1 had managed a 7:04 laptime. But after Porsche stepped up its game and turned in the ‘Ring’s first sub seven-minute lap by a production car, it appears that the McLaren engineers were sent to the naughty stool until they could do better.

If this is true – but of course it is, it’s on the internet! – it means that McLaren’s super hybrid has just beat the Porsche 918 Spyder, the current ‘Ring record holder, by a good ten seconds. In race terms, that is the equivalent of several years. Zee Germans vill not be pleased.

Ordinarily, I would be very skeptical of a random internet claim – even if it is backed up by actual footage. However, the fact that we know the P1 can manage 0-62 in just 2.8 seconds and on to 186 in 16.5 means such an incredible lap time might just be real.

If nothing else, the P1 certainly looks and sounds like the fastest production car to hit the ‘Ring, and we are in swsthebest1994’s debt for that glimpse alone.

But the war between Porsche and McLaren might just be heating up with this lap. Porsche brass thinks that they haven’t squeezed everything possible out of their 918 Spyder.  

If the engineers and test drivers don’t deliver: it’s cooler two weeks

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Peter Braun
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Peter is a freelance contributor to Digital Trends and almost a lawyer. He has loved thinking, writing and talking about cars…
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