Is the McLaren P1 the new Ring-daddy after all?

If you’ve been following our coverage of the McLaren P1 and its mystery Nürburgring lap time you’ll probably be over it just like we were.

And yet, thanks to Steve Sutcliffe’s review of the P1 for Autocar an unofficial ballpark time has emerged and breathed new life into the ongoing speculation. It’s been that way mostly because McLaren got cute and told us they went sub-7 minutes, but not how far below.

First, a reminder that the Porsche 918 has lapped the Ring in a documented 6 minutes 57 seconds. Clearly, McLaren will want to better that, and by some margin.

We’ve had speculation of a 7:04 lap time from the hybrid P1 and also 6:47. Well now we can add a new and much more impressive claim thanks to Autocar:

According to the rumour mill that is the internet the number of 6min 47sec keeps cropping up. But according to a McLaren insider I spoke to who knows rather more about the P1’s capabilities than any armchair expert ever could, the actual time is “a fair bit quicker than that.” As in six minutes 30 something. Either way, the P1 is, until Ferrari unleashes the LaFerrari at the Green Hell, king of the ‘Ring. For the time being.

Six minutes and thirty seconds?! That is very, very fast. As in, approaching all-time fastest ever around the fearsome Nordschleife!