This is McLaren’s mind-reading, shape-shifting F1 car of the future

After a year where McLaren-Honda struggled to make a reliable hybrid engine and finished last-but-one in the constructors championship, the ‘Applied Technologies’ division of the Woking team has decided to raise everyone’s spirits by dreaming up a car for the distant future.

Making use of cutting-edge tech - provided said technology exists “in its earliest stages” – the race concept explores scientific innovations that will make the upcoming Star Wars film look like a period drama.

Prepare for a serious nerd-out...

Top of the spec sheet is the mind control system, which would allow drivers to manage on-board devices using only the power of their thoughts. While mind control is only a “theoretical possibility” at the moment, McLaren believes it can be done, following joint research into neurological diseases with UK healthcare company GlaxoSmithKline.

Other intriguing upgrades include solar cells to harness energy from the sun, and thin batteries cleverly integrated into the crash structure to save space and weight.

More impressive though is the aero. “Achieving lower drag for fuel-saving would be extremely useful,” says McLaren’s Chief Innovation Officer Geoff McGrath, which explains why the MP4-X has adaptive shape-memory alloys which mutate for low drag on straights and high downforce in corners.

And with electrodes placed all over the car to control these surfaces, a big enough charge would turn the air passing over the car into plasma.

We think this is another measure to improve airflow, although if a lightning-esque, plasma ball appearance happened to be a side effect it then it would most definitely be the COOLEST THING EVER.

Ahem. There are countless other sci-fi features that you can drool over on McLaren’s website, though even as an empty shell the MP4-X is a sight to behold. How many of these concept technologies will become a reality by the time McLaren return to the front of the F1 grid? We couldn't possibly say.

Whichever way, we like it. We like it a lot.