From the firm that brought you the legendary F1 comes an incredible all-new supercar – a machine that’s been personally signed off by Formula One drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button. The MP4-12C has been designed to translate McLaren’s winning ways from race circuit to road, and Auto Express has driven it.

The company has enjoyed incredible success in the grand prix world, securing 12 drivers’ titles and eight constructors’ crowns since 1966. Now, with the formation of McLaren Automotive – under Sir Ron Dennis – it’s also determined to take on Ferrari away from the racing arena.

As you’d expect, McLaren Automotive, like the F1 team, is not a company that does things by halves. Before we got in the car, Dennis told us we should prepare ourselves for “the best handling sports car in history.

So how does Britain's best fare against Italy's finest? Steve Sutcliffe has driven both...

Considering how similar the new McLaren MP4-12C and Ferrari 458 Italia are to one another in design template, and on price - the McLaren costs £168,500, the 458 £169,545 - it's intriguing to discover just how different they are to drive.

To begin with the McLaren seems far less edgy, and far less obviously exciting in its responses and is certainly less dramatic to listen to than the Ferrari, which feels more extrovert than the 12C in its personality, period. Yet the more time you spend with the 12C, the more impressive its monstrous dynamic capabilities become. In many ways it's quite a subtle car to begin with, because its ride is so well resolved, its gearchange less 'thumping' in its delivery (than a 458's), its engine more refined at low revs.

Once you've summoned the courage and found the right road on which to let rip in the 12C, though, a rather more fearsome side of its character becomes apparent. Truth is, the 12C can do things that the 458 driver cannot (or should not) even contemplate. It's that much faster in a straight line, that much more planted through corners taken at speed.

And on paper the 458 would appear to be comfortably outgunned by the 12C. It has less power (562bhp to the 12C's 592bhp), less torque (442lb ft v 398lb ft) and weighs 50kg more. Its 4.5-litre atmospheric V8 also produces more g/km (307 v 279) and burns more fuel than the 12C's 3.8-litre twin turbo V8

Whether all that makes the 12C a better car than the 458 overall is, of course, entirely up to the individual. The McLaren is a more capable car, no question, but whether it's as desirable is another matter entirely. Visually you could argue that it's not. But again the decision, as with all matters of style, is subjective.

Personally I prefer the look of the Ferrari but would go for the McLaren in just about every other department. The only certain conclusion is that if you have £170k to spend on a supercar right now, the choice just got a whole lot better