Here’s How Much Faster The McLaren P1 Is When Wearing Track Tyres

Recently, Chris Harris finally got together the Holy Trinity for a glorious track battle at the fantastic Portimao circuit in Portugal, with the video being released last week. For the comparison, Ferrari asked for the McLaren to be wearing the Pirelli Corsa road tyres that come as standard on both cars. For track use, though, the P1 can be specced with super sticky track-spec Pirelli Trofeo R tyres.

After the comparisons were complete, Chris took the car out on its track rubber to see just how much of a difference it makes. I won’t ruin the time difference, but there will be no surprises that it’s quicker. What’s interesting to note is that Chris can get on the power earlier out of every corner, and suffers far less traction troubles when doing so. On road rubber, the P1 looks like a bit of a handful, whereas on track tyres it looks violently grippy.

Check out the full video below, or skip to 11m 30s to see the original lap.