A day with McLaren boss Mike Flewitt

9.55am - Over the partition in the bay next door, things aren’t as I expect. This is no garage. McLaren’s event organisers have transformed the place into a spacious, modern lounge area with comfortable sofas, armchairs, tables, video screens, bars, drinks and nibbles.

There are desks with screens that help you examine the telemetry traces from your own driving (everyone gets expert help to compare his or her performance with a well-driven example) and there’s even a sit-in driving game offering the chance to ‘Beat Bruno’. The second Senna, now on McLaren’s team, is on hand to drive and mingle.

10.15am - Flewitt has been here for a couple of hours, but everyone wants a piece of him. He has driven early and still wears his race suit. His slim build and medium height make him one of an exceptionally small number of car company bosses who look good in racing gear.

Small wonder: for Flewitt, racing is a weekend hobby. He shares a classic Lotus Elan with his Swedish wife, Mia, a former Volvo engineer whom he met when both worked on the TWR-Volvo Autonova joint venture. She’s retired now. Her last engineering project was the first-generation Renault Clio V6, created by TWR.

Mia comes to these events for two reasons: she is exceptionally handy behind the wheel and “just loves” driving the 675 LT, plus her presence always improves the ambience for women who might otherwise feel uncomfortable at events like this.

11.00am - Flewitt and I are supposed to be talking, but it’s almost more fun watching him at work. He sees the job as meeting, chatting, driving, explaining, confiding – but never selling.

He explains: “We do these days for prospective customers and for existing owners who won’t yet have seen the 570S or the 675 LT. They come strictly because they want to. Nobody needs a McLaren, but events like these enthuse customers. We promote the experience of driving fast – responsibly – but there’s no macho atmosphere and no arrogance. We do things professionally, but that doesn’t mean they have to be formal or overly competitive.”

11.30am - Something I say suggests these events are local to McLaren. Flewitt makes it clear how wrong this is. They’ve done Spa and the Nürburgring, of course, and there’ll be a Barcelona event soon. But the Middle Eastern F1 circuits are becoming popular, and Flewitt tells me of an extraordinary event in China where 30 of the 38 P1s sold to Chinese owners turned up. 

11.40am - There’s a shattering roar as chief test driver Chris Goodwin fires up his 1966 McLaren M1B, brought along as a live exhibit. The Pure McLaren days tend to feature unusual, inspirational exhibits. Not long ago, a member of this community brought his ex-Mika Häkkinen F1 car.

Goodwin plans to race his M1B at Goodwood in a few days’ time, so a shakedown is handy. It is McLaren’s first-ever CanAm car, beaten to the title by John Surtees in a Lola T70. Later CanAm McLarens would dominate so much that the competition would become ‘The Bruce and Denny Show’ – and then in 1970, one of them would claim Bruce McLaren’s life.

12.00pm - Time for lunch. Mike and Mia Flewitt, Senna, Goodwin and all the driver coaches sit among us punters, sharing talk of the morning’s excitement plus a nice but unpretentious buffet. One bloke, the former owner of a Porsche Carrera GT, talks of testing the 918 Spyder and not liking it, so he bought a P1. Which is why he’s here. Like me, this man has two arms, two eyes and parts his hair on the left; why can’t we have similar buying power?

1.30pm - I’m delighted to become Flewitt’s excuse for a few laps in the 675 LT. He strokes the car around at chastening speed, feeding the loads in and out rather than banging the car about. It doesn’t need it, he says.

Flewitt seems totally on top of the car to me, but he cheerfully concedes “real ability” to his wife, who has discovered a rare skill at conducting 675bhp supercars. We get into an esoteric discussion about whether this one is better with its aero bits deployed or not. With them working, it’s stable but feels rather heavy. If you don’t use them, it’s lighter at the rear and more adjustable, which is the way, I divine, good drivers prefer it.