The third new car launch of the week took place at the McLaren Technology Centre this morning when the MP4-24 was presented to the press for the first time.
The silver and red machine follows the look of the Ferrari F60 and Toyota TF109 in that it features the regulation wide front wing and high rear wing, and also features a very tightly sculpted rear end as appears to be the necessity with the new designs.
The hopes of world champion Lewis Hamilton and second driver Heikki Kovalainen rest on the MP4-24 and with in-season testing banned in 2009 it is vital that the teams get things right from the start.
Mclaren boss Ron Dennis said:
"Of course it is the same for every team so we can't say the challenges are any less demanding for the competitors. Extensive rule changes require extensive amount of work - these are the biggest rules changes we have seen in 15 years.
"That requires the technologists in our organisation; they are not just engineers but scientist with high qualifications, to go back to a plain piece of paper and conceptualising what the fundamental requirements are for the regulations.
"It is there you can get it wrong because if you get it wrong no amount of development can sort it out. What you see in the MP4-24 is a car correctly conceptualised.
"At the same time you are trying to make a good looking car, that is a value we put high, if it looks good it goes good, so what you see is a tremendous outcome from a lot of people, it is a credit from not just the technologists but the other people, this is a fully running car that can run on a circuit tomorrow.
"But this is a second car, the first is already at Portugal, so we feel we are in a good position to attack the time up to the first grand prix. It will be a critical time because it will set the baseline for the rest of the season."
Further comment came from Mercedes boss Norbert Haug:
"I think it was one of the most challenging winters. We have a frozen engine but the rpm changed to 18,000 and KERS is brand new. This is a lot of work that was put in the right direction.
"The guys were working very, very hard, flat out, and the amount of work in Brixworth and Stuttgart we have never had before, and the same at Woking - it is a dramatic rule change and a complete new set of rules and I think these guys created a fantastic car. Hopefully we will see the first good results tomorrow."
Pedro de la Rosa, long time McLaren test driver, will carry out the official shakedown test tomorrow prior to the first full test at the new Algarve circuit in Portugal.
Pictures will be published once we have sorted out our ongoing technical problem and in the meantime please visit the Team Launch thread on the forum for links.
Written: Fri, 16 Jan 2009 11:32:39
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