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The world champions from the past two years were called up by McLaren Automotive to rip the covers off the company's production-ready MP4-12C sports car.
The 12C is the British company's upcoming rival to Ferrari and the start of a plan to build more than 4000 high-priced, exotic sports cars within five years. It is has a top speed of more than 300km/h, is powered by a twin-turbo V8 engine, and is built around an F1-style carbonfibre monocoque chassis.
The first production cars will be ready for customers later this year but Button and Hamilton have already had seat time during testing of 12C prototypes in Britain, lapping at the classic Goodwood circuit across the road from the Rolls-Royce factory.
Not surprisingly, since both dream teamers are tied to McLaren, they have glowing praise for the car.
"The 12C is so easy to drive," says Button. "Its cockpit is a nice place to be and really makes you feel at one with the car. The driving seat is very comfortable and the layout of the controls is completely logical. The car’s dynamic capability is fantastic at both high and low speeds. Within just a few seconds, I felt really comfortable with the car – and after only a couple of laps I was able to begin to push it hard through the corners. Yet, even though I was pushing, I was amazed by the car’s great stability at high speeds. It’s very quick in a straight line, too. In fact, the biggest problem with driving this car on a circuit is that sometimes you forget it’s a road car."
Hamilton is also an early fan.
“The 12C is a real driver’s car; it delivered on all my expectations," he says. “It was clear when meeting the test team that they share the same competitive focus as our race team. We’re obsessed with winning and we’ll do all we can to make sure that happens. If the 12C team say they're aiming to make the best performance car on the market, then I’m convinced that's what they'll do."
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