McLaren W1 vs Mugello: 'one of the greatest cars we've ever tested'

The Story

TopGear reports that McLaren W1 vs Mugello: ‘one of the greatest cars we’ve ever tested’ — here’s the gist of what’s worth knowing.

Physics, prepare to be pulverised. McLaren F1 and P1 successor is here, and it doesn’t do compromise. Published: 27 Aug 2026 External link to Top Gear Magazine Subscription – 3 months for £6McLaren has parked its new tank on Ferrari’s lawn. Metaphorically speaking. Although Mugello is nestled in crazy beautiful Tuscan countryside, our W1 is currently cooling its heels in the pitlane, and if we end up on the grass round here, something will have gone badly wrong. Amusingly, some opera strikes up at high volume outside as the tech presentation begins, the ghost of Enzo manifesting as we learn about the W1’s dampers and downforce. Maranello is only 90 minutes up the autostrada.

Why Mugello?. McLaren CEO Nick Collins admits to a certain mischief, but mostly it’s because a car with this sort of intergalactic pace and mighty aero performance needs a track to strut its stuff. McLaren is currently undergoing a reset under the new boss, but the W1 is a reminder of its core engineering monomania. It also has a distinct philosophy when it comes to delivering our old friend, driving fun. It’s rear-drive only and although there’s a powerful electric motor, it shuns torque vectoring and software wizardry in favour of pure driving feel.

Spoiler alert: the result is one of the greatest cars we’ve ever tested. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Mugello has elevation changes, blind crests and a long main straight into a tight right at turn one that poses a big challenge for driver and machine. The word is that the W1 can pull numbers round here that are F1-adjacent. I’m also told that McLaren Automotive’s amiable chief development driver, Dani Marcos, saw an indicated 205mph on one run. The GPS correlation suggests a touch less, but even so, that’s bonkers.

20These are the 20 best V10 production cars ever builtMany factors are at work here, but in order to achieve this you need as stable a platform as possible and almost surreally good brakes. The W1 aces both. McLaren says the aero is the most advanced the company has ever developed for a road car. It uses full ground effect which makes the W1 only the second road-legal car to do so, the other being the Aston Martin Valkyrie.

McLaren describes the W1 as an “everything” car, designed to work as effectively on the road as it does on the track. M’learned colleague, Paul Horrell, gets very exercised by this subject, and insists that this means unavoidable compromise. You can be one or the other, but not both, and would be better off buying a decommissioned GT racecar for your track fun, and a Range Rover in which to get there. Trust me, we’ve had the arguments. On the Valkyrie, I tend to agree.

It gets better. The (optional) InnoKnit trim sweeps across the sills and cockpit like a fabric wave, a sustainable and technical-feeling alternative to leather or Alcantara. There’s a cantilevered door fin blade designed to maximise interior space, and carbon fibre sun visors that are just 3mm thick. The little window panel in the door/roof section above your head is a neat touch. The wheel is flat topped and bottomed, which actually feels appropriate in here. It has two buttons – one for a Boost function, the other to adjust the aero – but is otherwise pleasingly simple. As on other McLarens, the chassis and powertrain modes can be adjusted via rocker switches on the top side of the instrument binnacle. Its shape acts as a flow diverter to direct cool or warm air to the driver. The aircon works brilliantly.

The W1 has the narrowest A-pillars on any McLaren. The sense of theatre is amplified by placing the ‘start’ button in an overhead panel on the roof, close to the rear-view camera mirror. You’ll also find the window switches, ‘D’, ‘R’ and ‘N’ buttons, plus the ‘Race’ mode one. Everything is beautifully constructed, with lots of exposed carbon fibre. There are cupholders, and the headrests fold down so you can access a 118-litre space behind the seats. The W1 is clever and useable. It starts on the button, although there’s a pause before it fires up. It settles into a gruff, almost industrial sounding idle, compelling rather than easy on the ear. McLaren spent four years developing the engine, and designed it to operate as the heart of an electrified powertrain.

We have two 20 minute sessions on the track followed by time on the road. I’ve driven round Mugello before (in a Ferrari Monza SP1), and been driven round it (in a Ferrari 488 GT2), so familiarisation is the order of the day to begin with. But I have a coach beside me, the brilliant (and brave) Charlie Hollings, and we’re on it pretty quickly. Well, I say that. The W1 is an aero car, which means – to be reductive – that it gets better the faster you go. So the challenge is primarily one of self belief, of pushing yourself to match the car’s massive capability, although you can’t help wondering how the bespoke Pirelli Trofeo RS tyres can cope with the vast loads being put through them. Whatever you do, the W1 can do more. And then more again.

Writing all this down is one thing, but the way it feels and what it does on track is, well, genuinely eye-popping. If you’ve ever driven a properly sorted track machine or racing car, you’ll recognise the absence of inertia, appreciate the way the W1 squirms a little as it hooks up on corner exits before thundering on to its next appointment. It’s massively and addictively fast, and gathers momentum with a mechanical ferocity and sensation that no fast EV can ever hope to touch. For the record, it’ll accelerate to 124mph in 5.8 seconds, 186mph in less than 12.7 (three tenths faster than the F80). It’s also three seconds quicker than the aero-loony Senna round McLaren’s reference test track.

Why It Matters

It has two buttons – one for a Boost function, the other to adjust the aero – but is otherwise pleasingly simple.

CarMotion Daily’s Take

Although Mugello is nestled in crazy beautiful Tuscan countryside, our W1 is currently cooling its heels in the pitlane, and if we end up on the grass round here, something will have gone badly wrong. Watch this space over the coming weeks. Electric momentum is uneven across the industry, and moves like this reshape how buyers compare EV lineups. Range, charging speed, and price still dominate EV shopping — every new entry forces competitors to either match or reposition. Watch for EPA range certifications and DC fast-charge benchmarks once independent tests land. Pricing tiers, software updates, and any regional trim adjustments will tell us how serious the launch intent is.