Winding Road Drives The McLaren P1 At COTA

Winding Road gives a point-of-view look of how quickly a McLaren P1 can eat up the track at the Circuit Of The Americas

All the leaves are brown, and the sky is grey.  At least, that’s what I hear from every Powerball commercial when they want to announce a huge jackpot.  Entertaining the idea of winning the lottery and spending it on lavish things is an exercise in futility.  The chances are more none than slim when it comes to winning.  But, it is fun to dream of what is possible.  I would get a proper house with a garage.  I would get my dream car garage.  I would find ways to get race cars on the track, with me behind the wheel.

After all, don’t we want to know what 903 horsepower feels like?  Unlike most other cars with insane horsepower numbers, the McLaren P1 feels more astronomical, in the sense that, it is a road-legal car straight from the factory.  Sure, the Bugatti’s and Koenigseggs of the world have more phenomenal power numbers, but none of the supercars or hypercars seem as track-focused as the McLaren P1.

Winding Road, gives us a glimpse of what it looks like to take a hypercar onto one of the best tracks in the United States, the Circuit Of The Americas.

More from Art of Gears

• 3 Reasons the 2024 Mazda CX-50 Is Among the Best Small SUVs
• The Jeep Renegade Is Discontinued: Here’s a Look at Its Legacy
• 2023 Nissan Armada: A Decent Full Size SUV With 1 Glaring Issue
• Best Minivans: 3 Options for Families With Solid Performance
• Here’s Why the 2023 Ford Mustang Mach-E Is So Popular

By itself, the car is challenging.  With a peak output of 903 horsepower coming out of a 3.8-liter V8 turbocharged engine coupled to an electric motor, it’s very clear just how quickly the car approaches redline.  Shifting is constantly needed.  Straight-aways don’t really exist, as the car just leaps from corner to corner.  Even the main straight feels like mere seconds before the blind-left tight left is needed.

As if the car wasn’t challenging enough, the circuit itself has its own share of challenges.  The first corner is a slight uphill, and leaves a driver blind for a couple of seconds before the apex appears.  There are elevation changes and undulations.  In a car as powerful as the P1, the next series of corners make the driving experience feel like a slalom than an actual course.

More cars: McLaren P1 GTR Almost Crashes On Corkscrew At Mazda Raceway

It’s amazing just how fast the McLaren P1 actually is.  There is so much engineering behind the downforce, that the wind noise actually drowns out the engine noise in the cabin.  The P1 is thunderous, dynamic, yet sophisticated.  It is as close to an F1 experience as an owner can get.

California dreaming, on such a winter’s day.