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McLaren P1 v Nurburgring | video


McLaren have let their hybrid P1 stretch its legs on a fast lap of the Nurburgring. Not fast enough, it seems, to have beaten the 6:57 record set by the Porsche 918 Spyder. But McLaren are claiming to have done the circuit in under 7 minutes -- they're just not giving us the details on how much under. And that suggests they've still got an eye on the Porsche's record (as does the LaFerrari).

What McLaren does give us instead is a salute to the Nurburgring itself, with a video that asks -- and then answers -- the question of why it's so important to keep tackling what's acknowledged as the world's most difficult track, known as the Green Hell.

Helming the P1 for the 20.8km lap is McLaren test driver Chris Goodwin, who in an accompanying statement talks us through some of the challenges of what he describes as a "rollercoaster from hell" on which he made a gear change on average every six seconds.

"The acceleration from the Aremberg right hander down the Fuchsröhre is absolutely amazing. I have only experienced acceleration like this before in a Formula 1 car," Goodwin says. "This downhill snaking section of the track is taken flat, using DRS, shifting gear all the way down to the base of the valley, and the compression that follows applies the maximum vertical g-forces to the car. The forces really load the tyres, chassis and wing, but it is taken with only a slight lift of the throttle.

"The numerous jumps that make the Nordschleife famous are an even bigger challenge than normal with the massive speeds we approach them. Flugplatz and Pflanzgarten are both taken at very high speed...

"Through Bergwerk (the corner at which Niki Lauda had his infamous accident in the 1976 German GP), you have to turn in late in order to carry as much speed as you can onto the following straight without running wide. That is a quick section, and one that feels fantastic when you get it just right.

"Stability is just as important as ultimate grip, and some of the bumpiest sections of the track are also the fastest. The relentless climb towards the Karussell is dealt with in a few spectacular moments ... at the top of the hill is one of the fastest corners on the lap, with a approach speed around 300km/h, The track is really bumpy here, but the corner is dispatched with a light dab of the brakes in fifth gear.

"Cornering forces peak as the McLaren P1 drops onto the banked concrete surface at the Karussell, and swings round more than 180 degrees -- with the driver subjected to lateral g-forces of 3.9g -- before the final stages and sprint to the finish."

They didn't have Goodwin add his commentary to the soundtrack, possibly because they didn't want to have anything interfere with the glorious noise as the P1 lets rip from its 673kW/978Nm combination of a 3.8-litre twin turbo V8 and an electric motor -- a marriage McLaren claims gets the car to 100km/h in just 2.8 seconds, 200km/h in 6.8 seconds and 300km/h in 16.5 seconds. But the official Nurburgring time, we'll still have to wait for.

Watch the McLaren P1 hypercar going for a quick spin around the Nurburgring on our desktop site.

This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott