Lewis Hamilton in the MP4-12C

As Lewis Hamilton prepares to put on his McLaren fireproofs for the last time this weekend in Brazil, relive our drive with him in an MP4-12C last year...

Lewis Hamilton fits the McLaren MP4-12C like a glove. He ought to: important bits of it were moulded around him. This is a little worrying for those of us who don't share his terrifyingly athletic physique, but, in practice, one of the 12C's most powerful USPs is the brilliance of its cabin design. It's not a millimetre bigger than it needs to be, it's beautifully made and is easy to use.

"The steering wheel originally had a fatter rim," Lewis says, as we glide along one of the roads in downtown Dubai that leads towards the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building. "I said, ‘Why don't we have something that's closer to an F1 wheel?' So they made it slimmer, and the rim is moulded to my hand. Which is pretty cool."

Words: Jason Barlow
Photography: Joe Windsor-Williams

This article was originally published in the 2011 Awards issue of Top Gear magazine