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McLaren supercar worth £1m goes up in flames in residential street

The blue P1 hypercar, one of only 375 made, erupted into a fireball at a junction in Colnbrook, Berkshire - Andrew Cruze/Instagram
The blue P1 hypercar, one of only 375 made, erupted into a fireball at a junction in Colnbrook, Berkshire - Andrew Cruze/Instagram

AMcLaren supercar worth around £1million has been destroyed after bursting into flames.

The P1 vehicle, one of only 375 made, erupted into a fireball in a residential street in Berkshire.

It is thought the fire might have been caused by a fuel leak from the hypercar, which has an electric hybrid engine.

Video taken by a passerby on Saturday showed what appeared to be a trail of liquid from the blue McLaren.

The owner managed to escape the blaze at a junction in Colnbrook, near Heathrow Airport, in Berkshire.

Another "quality" #McLaren product. Hope the driver was ok. #p1 #deathtrap

A post shared by Andrew Cruze (@cruzeuk) on Oct 20, 2017 at 7:22am PDT

The P1 hypercar uses Formula One technology and can reach a top speed of 240mph.

A McLaren spokesman said the company was now examining the car, telling The Sun: “We believe it’s an isolated incident.”

In July, the driver of a McLaren supercar that was reduced to a twisted wreckage when it crashed on a country road and burst into flames claimed he had swerved to avoid an animal in the road.

Lee McClurg, 34, was driving himself and his partner, Alex Bedford, 27, to the Goodwood Festival of Speed when the orange McLaren 570S, costing £168,000, hit a house and telegraph pole barely three miles from their home near Trowbridge.

a McLaren 570S supercar crashed into a house on Yarnbrook Road, near Trowbridge, Wiltshire - Credit: Trowbridge Fire Station/PA
A McLaren 570S supercar crashed into a house near Trowbridge, Wiltshire, on July 2 Credit: Trowbridge Fire Station/PA

Images released by the fire service showed the blackened remains of the sports car buried beneath a collapsed brick wall.

Both Mr McClurg and Mr Bedford walked away from the crash with little more than cuts and bruises, but said they feared they were going to “burn alive” inside the car they had owned for just five weeks.