Gallery: McLaren's New MP4-X Concept Car Imagines a Fully Bonkers Future for F1
McLaren01front-3-4-lower
The MP4-X, McLaren’s Formula One concept, unveiled today, cares little for evolution and leaps right into tomorrow.
McLaren02top
“We wanted to peer into the future and imagine the art of the possible,” says John Allert, group brand director for the McLaren Technology Group.
McLaren03front-low
The MP4-X is the work of McLaren Applied Technologies, the division that applies McLaren’s F1 R&D to other fields, from making toothpaste to treating ALS.
McLaren04side-low
The team considered the project an “open brief,” freed from silly constraints like cost, F1 regulations, and any ability to actually produce the proposed technologies.
McLaren05front-low
Naturally, the MP4-X is fully electric.
McLaren06front-3-4-lower
But it doesn't rely on one big battery, like today's electric cars.
McLaren07nose-close
McLaren says it would use “thin batteries,” integrated into the bodywork.
McLaren08canopy-b
Even if the MP4-X were spouting CO2, the driver wouldn’t notice, thanks to the canopy protecting him from the elements and dangerous flying objects.
McLaren09canopy-a
This canopy would be photochromic, changing color to improve the driver’s vision.
McLaren10canopy-b
The MP4-X is fitted with cameras, feeds from which could be piped directly into the driver’s helmet, allowing to to effectively see through the car and vastly improving visibility.
McLaren11canopy-c
In McLaren’s future, there’s no need for drivers to familiarize themselves with the insanely complex steering wheels used in today’s racers.
McLaren12canopy-d
Drivers would control the cars with hand gestures—a technology already in consumer cars—or simply their thoughts, using the ability to monitor the brain’s electrical signals.
McLaren13rear-elv
Surfaces of the car would shift position to apply exactly the downforce needed at any given moment.
McLaren14side-elv
McLaren’s says “powerfully charged electrodes could be switched on into corners to turn the air around the wings into plasma.”
