McLaren Names Its Next Hypercar W1 Ahead Of Oct 6 Reveal

Update 9/27: Continuing the trickle of information about its upcoming hypercar, McLaren has officially confirmed the name as W1, marking the next chapter in its storied ‘1’ car lineage, which previously included the classic McLaren F1 and the modern P1.

McLaren states that the name pays homage to the brand’s “World Championship mindset,” with the public reveal coinciding with the 50th anniversary of McLaren’s first Formula 1 Constructors’ World Championship and Emerson Fittipaldi’s victory in the 1974 World Drivers’ Championship.

“The McLaren W1 is defined by real supercar principles and is the ultimate expression of a McLaren supercar,” commented the brand’s CEO, Michael Leiters. “Born of our rich racing history and World Championship mindset, W1 pushes the boundaries of performance and is worthy of the ‘1’ name. Like its predecessors the F1 and McLaren P1, W1 defines the rulebook of a real supercar.“

Original story follows below.

The long-awaited successor to the McLaren P1 appears set to launch on October 6, and to live up to its iconic predecessor, it will have to be extraordinary.

A few days ago, McLaren released a video looking back at the great F1 and P1 while suggesting that something new was in the works. An even more intriguing teaser has since been released and includes some of McLaren’s high-ranking executives and employees speaking about what defines a ‘1’ car from the brand.

Read: McLaren Dealers Get A Glimpse Of $2 Million Hypercar Coming In 2026

According to McLaren, ‘1’ cars have to be timeless, are “all about theater,” and need to be the best-sounding, best-looking, and best-performing cars of their kind. It ends by saying, “It’s time the world gets to see what McLaren is gonna do next,” before a date of October 6, 13:00 BST appears on the screen.

The teaser doesn’t confirm if the new car will be unveiled in full on October 6 or if McLaren simply intends to preview its next hypercar on that date, perhaps with some more teasers. Whatever the case may be, it makes clear the new creation is just around the corner.

The name of the car remains a mystery. It’s currently codenamed P18, but that isn’t expected to be retained for the production model. The focus on the ‘1’ name through this clip is a strong suggestion that, like the F1 and P1, it will simply have a single letter before the 1. We have no idea what this letter could be and finding one that has the same ring to it as F1 and P1 is difficult. The McLaren R1 sounds nice, but Yamaha uses R1 for one of its motorbikes. Z1 would also fit, but that’s been used by BMW, albeit decades ago.

Overall, the new hypercar is shaping up to be something very special. It’s expected to use a bespoke V8 that’s unrelated to the mill found in the 750S, and will be supplemented by a hybrid system roughly 70% lighter than McLaren’s current hybrid systems. Power should sit well beyond the 1,000 hp mark.