McLaren W1 gets first supercar ‘green’ tyres

Pirelli has equipped the potent new McLaren W1 with the first supercar tyres made from more than 50% bio-based and recycled materials.

These new tyres – P Zero R, P Zero Trofeo RS, and P Zero Winter 2 – have been specially developed by Pirelli in collaboration with McLaren and are offered in an exclusive specification for the new model, for which Pirelli is the sole tyre supplier.

This latest project involved close co-operation between the Research & Development (R&D) teams at Pirelli and McLaren, from the earliest stages of development and testing.

Initially working in a virtual environment, supported by state-of-the-art driving simulation technology, the engineers progressed to physical tests to assess tyre performance in differing weather and surface conditions.

Locations included the Nardò circuit in southern Italy, Idiada track in Spain, and Pirelli’s Sottozero Centre in Sweden – all ideal venues for exploiting the extreme high-performance of the W1.

This milestone is part of Pirelli’s long-term plan to launch the first tyres containing 80% of these materials by 2030.