The McLaren team are taking a more aggressive approach to their 2010 car design, according to engineering director Paddy Lowe, as the former champions look to bounce back to the front of the field after a difficult 2009 season.
The McLaren team, who won the drivers title with Lewis Hamilton in 2008, had a dreary mess of a 2009 season, picking up just two wins after having started the season with a woefully poor car.
But, buoyed by their late season recovery, which saw the MP4-24 become one of the fastest cars on the grid by the end of the season, the team now believes it will start the new season right at the front again, using advances made in 2009 on their new MP4-25 car.
"It's still too early to be able to say with any confidence how competitive we'll be, but all we can say with any certainty is that we've approached this year's car more aggressively than we perhaps have in the past," McLaren's engineering director Paddy Lowe bellowed earlier today.
He added: "We've used the knowledge we gained from heavily developing MP4-24 to stand us in good stead with the 25."
But, Lowe admitted that the contest at the front is likely to be hectic in 2010, with Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes GP all likely to be contenders for wins.
"We feel we're making very good progress, but, equally, we know there are some very capable teams out there too," Lowe mourned, "I'd be surprised if Red Bull Racing and Ferrari don't come out with very strong packages, and I think Mercedes GP will produce another extremely quick car. You don't write anybody off in this business."
He also said that he didn't feel that the 2009 champion Jenson Button would necessarily be disadvantaged by having joined the team with the car design at a late stage.
As to whether the new design would benefit Hamilton more than Button, Lowe insisted: "Not at all. In fact, the opposite is true: you tend to design a racing car to be as neutral as possible. The only way a car is specifically designed for a driver is ergonomically, and, like I say, we're confident that won't be a problem for Jenson.
"You're trying to provide the driver with the broadest possible performance plateau upon which he can improvise to best suit his style. You'd be surprised, too, at how drivers' different approaches very often culminate in a similar lap time, so, in that respect, we're confident that our drivers will be a good match.
"Besides, you usually find that the competitive instinct takes over: when you make a Formula 1 car faster, it invariably works for both drivers. We only engineer for performance – not for individuality"
Similarly, McLaren managing director Jonathan Neale said that he felt the "neutral" driving styles of Hamilton and Button, as well as possible test driver Pedro de la Rosa, who is still looking for a race drive elsewhere in 2010, will suit the team well.
"We're lucky in that Lewis and Jenson both have fairly neutral driving styles – as does Pedro – so it's unlikely to be a problem for us next year," Neale grinned.
"Without the variables of fuel-load and fuel-effect, people have suggested that tyre degradation will be the next most important performance-limiting factor during a race, but we don't think that's likely to be the case."
He went on: "If you look at previous examples of a guy who's kind to his tyres, and a guy who isn't, it's rare for the guy who pushes his tyres to slip backwards in a race. I think what you see is that a driver's speed comes from a broad range of variables – and it's invariably the characteristics of the car that create a degradation issue, rather than the drivers."
He added that he felt the level of competition within Super Team GB ZOMG(TM) for 2010 will be an asset to the team in pushing them forwards, rather than degrading into a petty mess, as has happened with previous McLaren 'superteam' partnerships, like Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya in 2006 and Hamilton and Fernando Alonso in 2007
"I'm absolutely convinced that they'll be a fantastic and competitive partnership," he insisted, ignoring the evidence, "The reality is that they'll both bring different skill-sets to the table, and from January onwards we'll be able to very rapidly bring their wealth of knowledge and experience to bear on a number of issues – particularly during pre-season testing.
"In some ways, it multiplies our opportunities in a grand prix too: there could well be tracks where Jenson's skill-set is better-suited to the challenge, and equally, tracks where Lewis could excel. In the past, Jenson has demonstrated considerable talent at high-speed circuits, and we're looking forward to building that into our arsenal.
"As long as we provide both drivers with equal opportunities and equal machinery – something we've always done at this team – then we hope they'll be competitive everywhere."
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