Yahoo Autos McLaren P1 GTR Celebrates First Ayrton Senna Formula 1 World Championship
One McLaren owner has immortalized Ayrton Senna without a Senna, instead commissioning a P1 GTR in the late Brazilian race driver’s iconic Formula 1 livery.
For the past three years, McLaren Special Operations slaved over this P1 GTR as the McLaren production line switched to ever more exclusive models including the Senna GTR and soon, the Speedtail. But that's because this P1 GTR is more than a paint job. All the aero bits are new, most notably the resculpted wing incorporating gilled side plates, Gurney flaps, and additional winglets. Fender caps help the air trail off the formerly exposed tires, while angry dive planes and a wider splitter complete the front. McLaren claims up to 1760 pounds of downforce.
That should allow a sufficient triceps workout as the driver grips the D-shaped steering wheel, now trimmed with microsuede and the Senna family's logo, and braces himself in the carbon fiber seats. At speed, the red stripe on the doors and dash will be nothing but a blur. A stock P1 GTR registers at 986 horsepower from a hybrid combo of its 3.8-liter twin-turbo V-8 and electric motor. Without saying, McLaren has given this GTR a "suitably pleasing" power upgrade that must be an even 1000 SAE ponies. Like the F1, McLaren treated the engine bay to 24-karat gold heat shielding, along with a Lexan plastic engine cover and a blue-tipped exhaust.
Even as Formula 1 recently banned tobacco advertising-and in the 1980s, the individual country bans that forced McLaren to delete its lead sponsor's logo with hash marks, as seen here-we all know the Marlboro man is shining down on this McLaren. Those dollars, no matter how dirty, propelled Senna to his first championship in the MP4/4 during the 1988 season, during which he poled 13 times and won eight races. In the constructor’s championship, McLaren scored three times as many points as Ferrari. The company spent more than 800 hours painting this new car. There’s a Senna out there with Senna livery, we know. But it’s not as special (or tingling with aero trickery) as this GTR.
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