McLaren 720S Dresses Up Like The F1 Car For F1 Miami Grand Prix

The inaugural Formula One Miami Grand Prix runs from May 6 to 8. To mark the occasion, McLaren has five special examples of the 720S in a livery like the one on the team’s race car. The company intends to use the vehicles for promotional purposes in the lead-up to the event, like running them during the Pirelli Hot Laps and a display at the McLaren Hospitality Suite.

The design features Fluro Papaya orange elements on the car’s nose and flanks. To contrast with this bright color, the rear fenders and decklid are the vibrant shade New Blue.

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Other than the body wrap, these cars are mechanically stock. The 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 makes 710 horsepower (529 kilowatts) and 568 pound-feet (770 Newton-meters) of torque. This is enough for the 720S to reach 60 miles per hour (96 kilometers per hour) in 2.8 seconds and 124 mph (200 kph) in 7.8 seconds. The top speed is 212 mph (341 kph).

There continue to be rumors that Audi is making bids as high as €650 million to buy McLaren Racing, giving the German automaker ownership of the Formula One team. Alternatively, there’s speculation that Audi might make a significant investment into McLaren.

Other rumors indicate that McLaren and BMW are partnering to develop an electric vehicle platform. The automakers would tailor this new architecture for sports cars. At this time, there’s no other info about it.

The next McLaren road car on the horizon is the Artura. This is the first product from the company to ride on the new McLaren Carbon Lightweight Architecture. The model boasts a twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V6 with hybrid assistance making a total of 671 hp (500 kW) and 593 lb-ft (804 Nm). This setup gets the vehicle to 62 mph in 3.0 seconds and a top speed of 205 mph (330 kph). The only gearbox choice is an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission.

The hybrid system uses a 7.4-kilowatt-hour battery. This provides 19 miles (31 kilometers) of purely electric driving range.

McLaren delayed deliveries of the Artura until July 2022 because of the chip shortage. Previsouly, a software supplier-related issue pushed back the launch from the original plans.