McLaren relives a smokier past

Monday, 24 December 2018

McLaren has come over all misty-eyed and nostalgic with a recently-revealed one-off P1 GTR created by its McLaren Special Operations (MSO) division.

Marking the 30th anniversary of legendary Formula 1 driver Ayrton Senna's maiden World Championship, the special P1 GTR is liveried in the iconic Marlboro colours that were synonymous with McLaren for more than 20 years and that appeared on the MP4/4 F1 car that propelled Senna to the first of his three subsequent F1 titles.

The car was commissioned by a 'McLaren collector', who also happens to be a massive Senna fan, and wanted to create a tribute that echoed 'the Brazilian's trademark perfectionism.'

Even though McLaren has named a ferocious car after Senna, we think the owner of this P1 has got the right idea.

According to McLaren he worked in close collaboration with the MSO team over the past three years, overseeing every detail of the project, resulting in a car he says is 'worthy of Senna himself.'

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Retro liveries always look good on new McLarens, but this one is particularly special.

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Christened 'Beco' by the owner, in honour of the nickname given to Ayrton by his parents, this one-off car has a unique engine specification with a 'suitably pleasing' increase in power, according to the owner.

'Beco' has also undergone several external modifications to make the most of the increased performance that, according to the company, required a full aerodynamic programme and resulted in new aero features that increase downforce to somewhere in the region of the 800kg.

Old racing car liveries always look brilliant on new supercars, and this one is no different. Although we can't help but think Ferrari could be sharpening its litigating pencil over those black stripes used in place of the Shell and Marlboro logos, as they are rather similar to the barcode approach the Ferrari team used when tobacco sponsorship was banned in F1.