McLaren has dropped a bombshell, claiming that its new Ultimate Series model, the Speedtail, will produce more than 987 horsepower. Company boss Mike Flewitt uncorked the groundbreaking development at a McLaren owners’ event, giving us yet another reason to get excited about a model that’s turning into one of the most highly anticipated McLarens in the company’s history.

When McLaren first indicated that the Speedtail is the spiritual successor of the F1, more than a few eyeballs rolled at the news. Is there really a car that deserves to be mentioned in the same sentence as the mythical F1? Well, it turns out that there is, and it’s called the Speedtail.

McLaren company boss Mike Flewitt didn’t hold back in confirming that the Speedtail is more than just another McLaren. Not only does it have at least 987 horsepower on tap, but it’s also being described in superlative terms, as in the fastest McLaren in history.

But the new hypercar is its own beast, a product of how far McLaren has come in adopting its technologies to create faster and more powerful models. The McLaren P1 was a landmark model because it opened the door for McLaren to use hybrid technology to power its models. The Speedtail, on the other hand, is pegged as the evolution of that technology, a belief backed up by the improvements made to McLaren’s familiar 4.0-liter twin-turbo engine. “That (engine} architecture has gone from 426 horsepower in a GT1 to I-can’t-tell-you-what-yet in the Speedtail,” Flewitt said.

The McLaren chief didn’t exactly point to a specific power number, but he also wasn’t coy about revealing that the Speedtail would have “more than 987 horsepower” and admitting that the Speedtail will have a “slightly different hybrid application” compared to the McLaren P1. Regardless, the Speedtail will carry the kind of power you want from a car that can hit a top speed in excess of 243 mph, making it the fastest McLaren in history.

With its expected capabilities, talk of world speed records should dominate conversations about the Speedtail. Just don’t expect McLaren to join in on those discussions. “We’re not going for top speed for the sake of top speed,” Flewitt said.

It’s a smart strategy to lower expectations on the Speedtail, especially with how the lay of the land in the hypercar market. As fast as the Speedtail is, it probably can’t gun for a 300-mph top speed the same way models like the Koenigsegg Agera RS, Bugatti Chiron, and Hennessey Venom F5 are al expected to do in the future. The car is more rounded than that, and there’s more to it than just top speed,” Flewitt said. “Some of those guys are going to be putting out 1,500bhp to 1,600bhp, and we’re not going to be there.”

Regardless, the McLaren Speedtail is going to be powerful, and it’s going to be fast. Outside of the records, though, McLaren also wants the Speedtail to be “super comfortable” and “super fun to drive." The 243-mph top speed will still be there, but McLaren didn’t get to that number out of a desire to compete for speed records. It got there because of, in Flewitt’s words, “engineering that’s gone into the car, not a target of the car.”

Further reading

Read our full speculative review on the 2019 McLaren Speedtail.

Read our full review on the 2019 McLaren Senna.

Read more McLaren news.