New McLaren Senna on steroids leaked

Images for what could be the all-new replacement for the McLaren Senna have been leaked online, showing drawings that were submitted to the British patent office.

The patent images that surfaced overnight were actually submitted by McLaren in November last year and reveal what is unmistakably a Senna-style hypercar that has been developed for the track.

Featuring a huge rear spoiler, a central dorsal fin, aggressive front splitter, winglets and spoilers, the unnamed new hypercar looks more prototype Le Mans racer than road car.

With trademarks already filed, it's thought the new car could be named either the Arkon, Veo or Vion.

Like the McLaren Artura, the upcoming replacement for the 570S, beneath the skin the hypercar will be based on the all-new McLaren Lightweight Carbon Architecture that has been developed to package both the batteries and electrical inverters and harnesses required for hybrid power.

Speaking of which, unlike the Senna it is set to replace, the new Ultimate Series McLaren is tipped to move to a full plug-in hybrid powertrain that will offer well in excess of 746kW (1000hp.)

This could mean that, for the first time in McLaren's history, the model could feature an electric motor driving the front axle, providing for all-wheel drive.

If so, expect the McLaren hypercar to hit 100km/h in less than 2.0 seconds and top out at around 400km/h.

Under its rear bonnet, the new British hypercar will use either the McLaren Artura's all-new twin-turbo V6 or a heavily updated version of the wild McLaren Speedtail's 4.0-litre V8 hybrid that produces an ample 773kW and 1150Nm.

It's not known when we'll next see the all-new hypercar based on these images, with the car-maker currently focusing all its resources on launching the McLaren Artura in 2021.

A safe bet is the car pictured could arrive a year later in 2022.

If it does, that could see the British car-maker enter a race version in the Le Mans Daytona (LMDh) hypercar class in the World Endurance Championship, where it would compete with Toyota and Peugeot and, at some point, Audi which has recently announced its return to top-flight endurance racing.