They may have had a very painful season in their first year with Honda engines, but that doesn’t stop McLaren from conceptualizing the future of Formula 1.

The MP4-X is certainly not the first futuristic concept about how a futuristic F1 car could be: Red Bull’s X1 that was originally conceived for Gran Turismo 5, Ferrari’s F1concept and even a couple of studies for a McLaren devised by independent designers have got there first.

This, however, is a bona fide Woking creation – and a rather impressive one at that. “With the futuristic McLaren MP4-X concept racecar, we wanted to peer into the future and imagine the art of the possible”, said John Allert, Group Brand Director of the McLaren Technology Group.

Outlandish, and very appealing, design apart, the MP4-X is, in the company’s own words, “designed to harness alternative power sources”. If that doesn’t impress you that much, then a shape-shifting chassis that adapts to various aerodynamic demands and even “talks” to the driver if there is a problem, probably will.

McLaren has envisioned a closed cockpit, which many have called for: “We have combined a number of F1’s key ingredients – speed, excitement and performance, with the sport’s emerging narratives – such as enclosed cockpits to enhance driver safety, and hybrid power technologies”, said Allert.

Maybe it’s time for Formula 1 to seriously consider breaking the mold and making a leap into the future as soon as possible; after all, the teams are already gearing up for it.

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