Built at the request of race teams, such as those owned by Ray Bellm and Thomas Bscher, in order to compete in the BPR Global GT Series, the McLaren F1 GTR was a custom-built race car which introduced a modified engine management system that increased power output – however, air-restrictors mandated by racing regulations reduced the power back to 441 kW (591 hp; 600 PS) at 7,500 rpm. The car's list of modifications included changes to body panels, suspension, aerodynamics and the interior. The F1 GTR would go on to take its greatest achievement with first, third, fourth, fifth, and 13th places in the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans, beating out custom built prototype sports cars. When Mark Blundell – who finished fourth in the race – was asked what the F1 GTR was like to drive during the wet race, he said: "Well it was never designed to be a race car so in many respects it wasn't the best-balanced car in the world. The saving grace of the car was the BMW V12 engine. It was incredibly impressive in that you could be in 6th gear at 2,000 rpm and the thing would just pull like a train. And in the wet that is great as you can run a higher gear and it cuts out some of that traction issue. But in terms of balance, overall it was always a bit top heavy, so the centre of gravity wasn’t ideal. And aerodynamically it wasn't quite there, but it did the job".
In total, nine F1 GTRs were built for the 1995 season.
The 1995 F1 GTR created so much downforce that it was claimed to be able to drive upside down along a ceiling at 100 mph (161 km/h).