The new McLaren Senna is sure to be many things, but I really don’t think it should be considered a “hypercar.” Yes, that’s right, while most others are writing the same sort of ass-kissing articles about the Senna, I’m over here with my critic hat on.

Don’t get me wrong, I like the Senna a lot, and I’m sure it will be fast in ways not thought possible, but performance alone doesn’t constitute what makes a hypercar a hypercar. In fact, I’d say it’s traditional for the next generation of track-focused supercars to exceed the performance of the previous generation’s hypercars. I mean, the Porsche GT2 RS just shattered the 918’s Nürburgring time, but does anyone consider that a hypercar?

To me, the Senna seems pretty much the 720S equivalent of the 675LT in the previous generation, an ultra hardcore track-focused version of the McLaren Super Series car. Now, it does seem as though the Senna is an even more of a step up over the 720S than the 675LT was over the 650S. They’ve definitely raised the stakes here, so if the 675LT was the 650S turned up to 11, then the Senna is the 720S turned up to 12. But, faster lap times or not, that sure as hell doesn’t put it at the relative level of a P1, let alone the legendary F1.

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