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McLaren boss denies second-gen F1 supercar plans

McLaren CEO Mike Flewitt quashes speculation of a new F1 supercar interation, but as Mike Duff notes, it what Flewitt didn’t say that’s keeping everyone crossing their fingers

McLaren F1 supercar
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McLaren CEO Mike Flewitt quashes speculation of a new F1 supercar interation, but as Mike Duff notes, it what Flewitt didn’t say that’s keeping everyone crossing their fingers.

Remember those rumours that McLaren was working on a new F1 that set the internet on fire? Well we’ve dug a bit deeper and found that things are more complicated than initial reports suggested.

McLaren’s financial results press conference last week gave the perfect opportunity to brace company CEO Mike Flewitt about reports that the company was going to recreate its most iconic model.

“I’m really not going to comment on that article,” was Flewitt’s opening gambit, although when pressed, he conceded that there’s still plenty of pressure from potential owners.

“I regularly get asked for three seats and a V-12 and a manual gearbox,” he admitted. “I just don’t think there’s a real business case to do one of those.”

Mc Laren -F1-1993-doors -openReferencing Jaguar’s move to build a ‘continuation’ run of Lightweight E-Types, he flatly ruled out doing anything similar with the F1: “I haven’t got six VIN numbers in my bottom drawer than we forgot to use.

“People often hark back to things that they’ve loved, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the right thing to do now.

We loved the F1, but we’re not going to make another one.”

The thing is, however, that that’s not what the original Autocar article suggested that McLaren was going to do.

Initial reports instead said that the company was planning to create a modern homage to the three-seater megacar, “the fastest GT car yet built, as opposed to a super sports car chasing outright performance” – something that Flewitt conspicuously didn’t deny might happen.

In other words, this might be a case of everybody being right.

For its part, Autocar is sticking fast to its scoop. “I’m entirely confident in the story. It’s well sourced and verified,” Jim Holder, the author of the original piece told Wheels. “There are customers and potential customers out there openly discussing the car as described.”

We look forward to seeing who is right on this one.

Mike Duff

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