Even if you have the appropriate amount of funds available to you, it’s not everyday you can just go out and buy a McLaren P1. It’s even less common to be able to buy one previously owned by a former Formula One driver, but at the moment you can. And that’s because Jenson Button, the winner of the 2009 FIA Formula One World Championship, has now put his on the market for sale.
Button put his P1 up for sale on Monday and used Instagram to make the announcement. His post reads: “McLaren P1 up for sale so that someone else can enjoy her. It’s a tough decision but living in America I don’t really get the chance to drive this beauty, I did give her a final blast up to Silverstone for WEC last month though!”
Speaking to the UK’s Autocar publication earlier this year, Button said he loved the P1 because of its “its slightly snarly on-the-limit behaviour.” Even though just 375 examples of the P1 were built by McLaren between October 2013 and December 2015, this one is even more unique and is described by the selling dealer as a unique ‘1 of 1 example,’ due to its ‘Grauschwartz Grey’ paint, interior color combination and road legal ‘Track Mode 2’ options.
The P1 made its global debut at the Paris Motor Show in 2012, and after going on sale in the UK in October of 2013, all 375 build slots were spoken for by November. The car was considered the successor to the revolutionary F1 due to its use of hybrid power and technology derived straight from Formula One. And like the F1, the P1 is a mid-engine, rear wheel drive design that used a carbon fiber monocoque and roof structure safety cage concept called MonoCage, and accommodates up to three people with the driver in a central position.
Of course, the question everyone will want to know is how much it will cost to take the P1 off Jenson’s hands. Although this is very much a case of if you have to ask the price you probably can’t afford it, a 2015 P1 sold in the United States earlier this year for $1.7 million. If that hasn’t put you off and you’re probably happy to pay a little more than that for an example with this car’s provenance. The car is being sold by Steve Hurn Cars, who are based in Suffolk in the UK.