The McLaren Senna has been designed, engineered and developed with a single-minded purpose - to be the ultimate McLaren track-concentrated car for the road. Legalised for road use, but not sanitised to suit it, the new Ultimate Series deliberately compromises McLaren's trademark breadth of supercar daily usability and provides the purest connection between driver and car, to deliver the most intense circuit experience of any road McLaren.
Every body panel is made from carbon fibre, in line with a relentless focus on the weight of every individual component that has resulted in the McLaren Senna being the lightest road-legal McLaren since the iconic F1 road car, at just 1,198kg.
Driver controls have been deliberately kept to a minimum to reduce 'cockpit clutter' and the three-spoke steering wheel is free of buttons and switches, creating a pure focus on sensory feedback. All the information the driver needs comes from the high-definition McLaren Folding Driver Display and central infotainment screen.
And while McLaren designers stopped short of removing the second seat altogether, there is no contingency for excess baggage; storage space is restricted to a chamber behind the seats integral to the Monocage III with just enough room for two helmets and race suits.
Despite having two seats, the Senna places absolute focus on the importance of the one that the driver occupies
Lightweight internal components reduce mass in the powertrain and combine with ultra-low inertia, twin-scroll turbochargers and electronically controlled wastegates to deliver lightning-quick throttle responsiveness.
A dual-clutch, seamless-shift, seven-speed gearbox delivers power to the rear wheels. A fully automatic mode is the default, with the driver able to choose full manual control of gear shifts via paddles mounted on a rocker behind the steering wheel.
The elongated carbon fibre paddles are optimised to be used both with or without racing gloves, and create a deep sense of mechanical connection with the McLaren Senna.
The character of the 4.0-litre twin-turbo McLaren V8 and the transmission can be tailored using the Active Dynamics Panel, with the driver having a choice of Comfort, Sport or Track powertrain modes. Whatever the mode, performance is suitably savage. Throttle response is immediate and neck-snapping, pinning the driver back into their seat.
The third model introduced under the McLaren Track22 business plan, the McLaren Senna will be hand-assembled at the McLaren Production Centre in the U.K. with a limited production number of only 500 vehicles. The ultimate road-legal, track-concentrated McLaren hypercar will make its public debut in March, at the 88th Geneva International Motor Show.
