The literally endless "fun" of car launch season continued today, as McLaren became the latest F1 team to unveil their incongruous 2009 machine, with their drivers taking the covers off to reveal the MP4-24 at the McLaren Technology Centre in "sunny" Woking.
Despite initial rumours that the team may have done something vaguely interesting like change the livery a bit or something, the chrome beastie was conspicuous by it's familiar look, albeit with the slightly unfamiliar sight of the #1 proudly displayed on the nosecone.As with the other 09 cars launched so far from Ferrari and Toyota, the new car is conspicuously ugly, with the jarring combination of wide, low slung front wing and high, slim rear wing that will tar the entire grid in 2009. Although in fairness the side view of the car which masks the horrible wing design has to be the nicest-looking shot from a 2009 launch to date, it is again simply disguising the overall issue of this bastard breed of F1 machines.
Aside from the grotty wings, the design seems to have deviated from the interim test car used in December, with the front end in particular being higher, shorter and stubbier than the test design. Furthermore, the air intake seems to be set lower than recent designs, though that might just be Patronise looking at it a bit funny, and mercifully the car only seems to be blighted with front wheel hubcaps.
The rank rear wing, as well as being really rank, does feature some interesting-looking flickups running off the back of the sides, though time will tell if they actually serve any purpose in any way. Meanwhile, speaking at the launch, both drivers seemed temporarily blinded by the sheen from the new chrome as they gave their thoughts on the design.
"This is the first time I've seen it fully put together and it looks beautiful," Lewis Hamilton lied, "The team manages to always put together a stunning car and it's great to see the final outcome of the work that has gone on."
"I echo Lewis' thought," Heikki Kovalainen added, echoing Lewis's thought, "It looks great. Whatever the regulation changes are the team have managed to make a beautiful car."
On the subject of their ambitions for the year ahead, reigning champion Hamilton said that "We want to win both titles and obviously we can improve on the mistakes we made last year, both individually and as a team," adding that "We want to win, that’s what we are here for and we’re do the best job we can." Meanwhile, Kovalainen was slightly more circumspect about the year ahead, insisting that "I am looking forward to season and hopefully we can have better year."
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