Giving a car “the beans” or “some beans” is definitely something all those who are interested in automobiles like to do when confronted with a new car (or that may just be me).
You climb aboard and want to get a feel for its handling and poke, so as to adapt your driving style, and keep both safety (and speed if necessary) up – the kind of hard, edgy driving inferred by the phrases in quotes above is perfectly suitable for the task.
However, if you attempt that on the public roads in a Fiat Panda, you run the risk of ending up in jail, or at least seeing your face reflected in a cop’s Aviator cli-shades at least once. Thus, it is best left up to the professionals, especially in those instances when the vehicle in question is one of the first representatives of the new breed of hybrid-hypercars, the McLaren P1. Many people are watching, most of whom at least have phones and/or tablets capable of shooting HD footage – any slipup would be embarrassing.
Thankfully, for the Woking-based manufacture, at this year’s edition of the Goodwood Festival of Speed, they had their own F1 driver Jenson Button on hand to do the hooning for them, and do it well.
There is really nothing more left to add at this point, aside suggesting that you scroll down and check out the video of Button at the wheel of the P1, the celebrated culmination of McLaren’s fifty-year existence.
By Andrei Nedelea
VIDEO