In The Name of the Father, McLaren’s P1 Successor Is Coming

Even before it hit the market the McLaren P1 was destined to adorn the walls of car-heads and garages the world over. It promised, and delivered, on being the best mid-engine hyper car ever to grace God’s green and asphalt-laden Earth and it did with a style all its own. It wasn’t always the fastest to 60mph, but there was and still is nothing out there that can compare to its sleek curves and distinct tail light profile. It also had that inaccessibility mystique about it. With only 375 out there in the world, seeing one in the wild felt on par with spotting a mythical creature in your backyard. 

And now, in 2025, we’ll have the P1’s hybrid super car successor coming and everyone is already talking about it. I mean we don’t even have a mock-up of a prototype or official concept art from McLaren yet. There isn’t even a name for it - the project is referred to as “Son of P1” internally at McLaren, but that hasn’t dampened our excitement for it.

McLaren hasn’t always had the best record with names. Remember the MP4-12C? It sounded like the password your grandparents put on a sicky note that they left on the monitor of their Gateway desktop. So, we doubt the official name is going to end up being Son of P1.  

Names however haven’t stopped this hype train from speeding its way to a final destination, which unlike most hype trains’ will not be Let-Down-Town. Because yeah, McLaren messing this up would be like David Chang messing up a bowl of Ramen.

There haven’t been any official announcements about engineering particulars, but there is some information out there that the Son will improve on the father’s legacy by having a split hybrid system with the front axle running on electricity, and the rear running on old-fashioned gasoline. As opposed to there being a switch for electric or combustion options. 

As far as looks go, I know I said earlier that we don’t have any concept art, that’s still true but we do have McLaren’s Ultimate Series design trademarks. Given that many think this generation will be an Ultimate series edition we can look at these and get a feel for what it might look like, and to be honest I can’t wait to see what it looks like when it’s fully fleshed out.

The only slight blemish in this otherwise rosy picture is that McLaren has been dragging its heels on going full EV, sticking with hybridization, unlike some of its competitors like us and Porsche. But CEO Mike Flewitt has indicated that they’re looking to release their first fully electric offering in the later half of this decade. One can only hope…