McLaren debuted the Speedtail, the spiritual successor to its iconic McLaren F1, last year. It appears, however, the British automaker is still testing prototypes. They're likely dialling it in before customer deliveries begin next year. One eagle-eyed bystander, though, was able to capture video of a McLaren Speedtail prototype under duress. The car is stopped and there's smoke emanating from the rear. As the video progresses, one of the drivers appears to hit the car with a fire extinguisher of some sort. 

McLaren reached out to us to confirm the incident occurred and explain what we're seeing in the video. Here is the company's statement from Roger Ormisher, Head of Global and North American Communications for McLaren:

“A prototype version of the McLaren Speedtail experienced what we believe at this stage to be an electrical fault, whilst stationary at a fuel station near Guildford in Surrey, UK. As a precautionary measure, having seen a small amount of smoke emanating from the vehicle, McLaren employees moved the car away from the fuel pumps and discharged dry powder extinguishers over the rear of the car. The prototype was subsequently recovered to McLaren premises.

Nobody was injured as a result of this incident and investigations into the cause of the issue have commenced.”

Thanks to some quick thinking by the drivers, no flames appear to have materialised and the car was moved far enough way from the fuel pumps. As a result the danger of something truly terrible happening was practically nil. We'll update this article if and when McLaren determines the cause of the electrical fault.

 

 

Meanwhile, we're left to wait impatiently for a chance to experience the Speedtail ourselves. The car is capable of reaching 250 mph with a price of approximately £1.75 million. It's aiming for the Bugatti Chiron for sure, but doing it through aerodynamics as opposed to brute force. Powering the Speedtail is a petrol-electric hybrid powertrain making 1,035 bhp. The supercar can reach 186 mph in a mere 12.8 seconds. The car places the driver in the centre with two captain chairs to the left and right with an opulent and futuristic interior, too.

Gallery: McLaren Speedtail