Geneva is the supercar show, and always has been. But every so often it surpasses itself, spewing out entire Top Trumps-worth of the things. This year is about the most epic of the lot, a place where even a new 911 GT3 and the extraordinary Lamborghini Veneno aren’t the biggest stories. Because at Geneva 2013 we get the definitive version of the McLaren P1 and the Ferrari LaFerrari, to add to what we already knew about the Porsche 918 Spyder.

Right then. Place your bets for the hybrid hypercar sweepstakes.

They are fascinatingly similar of course, but fascinatingly different, too. All use electric motors to augment the torque and quicken the response of their already copiously endowed engines. All have DSG transmissions. All have carbonfibre bodies and all of them take active aerodynamics into new and brain-scramblingly complex places.

But they all look very different. One has turbos, two don’t. Another one has all-wheel-drive, the other two don’t. The third one is a pure hybrid, but the other two can be plugged in and then driven for a few miles in electric-only mode.

And above all this, one’s a Ferrari, one a McLaren and one a Porsche. Unless you’re mindful of their different makers’ philosophies and passions and proclivities, you’ll never get a feel for how far these cars diverge.

Words: Paul Horrell