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Ferrari F80 v McLaren W1: Which is better?

The two famous names are taking their F1 battle to the supercar showroom. We compare the Ferrari F80 and McLaren W1.

Stephen Ottley by Stephen Ottley
24 October 2024
in NEWS
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McLaren W1 v Ferrari F80

It turns out multi-million dollar hypercars are a lot like buses – you wait ages for one only to have two show up at the same time.

Ferrari and McLaren have been duking it out on the Formula 1 circuit since 1966, and have been full-time supercar adversaries since 2010. But in the last two weeks they both revealed their latest hypercars, Ferrari the F80 and McLaren the W1.

So which one is better? Well, unfortunately it’s going to be hard to get our hands on one of these cars, let alone both, so we’ll have to rely on a good old fashioned specification showdown. Here’s the tale of the tape on these two hypercar titans.

McLaren W1 v Ferrari F80

Power

Both of these modern hypercars are hybrids, but rather than using electric motors to save fuel they use them for the performance boost they can offer.

The W1 makes 938kW from its 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 engine and a single electric motor. In contrast the F80 uses three electric motors and an F1-style MGU-K energy recovery system to back up its Le Mans-derived 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6. However, the Ferrari ‘only’ makes 883kW which means it can’t match the Macca for bragging rights.

Winner: McLaren

Weight

While the electric motors bring instant power, they also bring weight to the equation – and that is the enemy of hypercars. Which is why both companies have been obsessive about cutting every gram they can.

Ferrari have gone to the extreme of making the cabin so narrow they officially refer to the F80 as a ‘1+’ seater in an acknowledgment this is a car built for the driver and the passenger is an afterthought.

McLaren, meanwhile, has space for two equally but has gone to its own extremes to save weight including making carbon fibre sun visors that are just 2.7mm thick. That’s just one example of the lengths the company went to to get the W1 to a dry weight of 1399kg, which is 126kg lighter than the 1525kg F80.

Winner: McLaren

McLaren W1 v Ferrari F80

Downforce

Both cars are loaded with the latest technology from motorsport in order to keep them stuck to the road at high speed.

McLaren claims the W1 has F1-inspired ground effect aerodynamics that combine with ‘McLaren race mode’ to give the W1 the ability to lower by 37mm at the front and 17mm at the rear, while the McLaren Active Long Tail rear wing can extend back by 300mm.

The F80 also has race-bred active aero, according to Ferrari, and is a big reason why the cabin is so narrow. Ferrari said it took lessons from both F1 and its 499P Le Mans Hypercar to ensure the F80 was the slipperiest but most stable it could be.

In the end though, both cars make 1000kg at 250km/h, so there’s nothing to split them on paper.

Winner: Tie

Top speed

While Bugatti is famous for its focus on top speed, both Ferrari and McLaren prefer to build a more well-rounded hypercar with an emphasis on racetrack handling. As such both are officially limited to a top speed of 350km/h.

Both are also ridiculously quick around a track too, with Ferrari claiming the F80 is more than four seconds faster than the LaFerrari around its Fiorano test track. McLaren reports that the W1 is even quicker on a circuit than its limited edition Senna model, which was previously considered its most capable track car.

Frankly, both sound exceptionally fast.

Winner: Tie

McLaren W1 v Ferrari F80

Acceleration

Top speed may be even but getting there is still a key battle between these two hypercar heavyweights. Obviously we can only go off the company’s claims, as no-one outside either brand has yet to test them independently. McLaren says the W1 will sprint 0-100km/h in 2.7 seconds and 0-200km/h in 5.8 seconds, which is slower than the Ferrari on both counts. The F80 has a claimed 2.1 seconds 0-100km/h time and 0-200km/h takes just 5.7 seconds.

Winner: Ferrari

Exclusivity

Both of these cars are ‘invitation only’ with only the most loyal and wealthiest customers from each brand getting a chance to buy one. McLaren has the edge, in theory, in this department with only 399 examples of the W1 to be built, compared to 799 for the F80.

History shows that McLaren will often produce a spin-off of its hero car, having previously offered the P1 GTR and Senna GTR track-only specials, so there is scope for more W1 to be built.

Winner: McLaren

That’s all the details, which is your pick? Tell us your favourite in the comments.

Stephen Ottley

Stephen Ottley

Editor-at-large
Stephen Ottley is an award-winning journalist who has written about cars and motor racing for all of Australia’s leading publications.

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