McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh has said that the Woking team have worked hard to avoid a repeat of last year's "abysmal" pre-season testing campaign, saying that the team has found "good performance" in their new car.
McLaren unveiled their new MP4-27 car to the world on Wednesday, with the team hoping that the new machine can challenge Red Bull for the title in 2012.
The team's 2011 efforts were stymied early on by dreadful reliability throughout pre-season testing, which limited the team's time on track and left them fighting to catch up from the start of the season.
But Whitmarsh hopes that the new car, set to begin testing at Jerez next week, will not suffer from the same issues.
"We had, by anyone's standards, let alone McLaren's standards, an abysmal testing period last year," he lamented after the covers were pulled off the new car.
"I would be happier not to fight those issues, and we have put a lot of work into this car and we are not expecting a repeat of last winter."
He also defended the team's new design, despite the MP4-27 not appearing to be quite as controversial as had been suggested prior to the launch.
Whitmarsh said that the team had not opted for a conservative approach to their new car.
"This year we have not been cautious but we have found some good performance," he explained, "We have set ourselves some tough targets that if we reach we think we can fight for the championship."
He added: "I don't believe we have been inherently conservative.
"Inevitably there are creative brains seeking to find a Eureka moment that will bring seconds of performance, but sadly in F1 those moments are limited."
And he also revealed that the team would be adding more to the car between now and the start of the season, saying: "All teams will develop the cars so the car unveiled as they pull the cloth back is not the car being used in Q1 in Australia.
"There will be great evolution in some teams. It is not just about testing or the first race, you have to improve the car through every single race if you want to win the championship.
"Providing we have a good car at the start of the season then we should do well."
Whitmarsh also took time to further settle down rumours that McLaren were planning to change engine provider in the near future.
Recent speculation has linked the team with a switch to a different powerplant, either through a new Honda F1 programme or with the new PURE engine supplier.
But Whitmarsh says that the team are happy with Mercedes, and added that the team was not considering either switching or making their own engines in the future.
"The motivation to change [supplier] is very limited. We enjoy that partnership [with Mercedes] and intend to continue for a number of years," he grinned.
He added: "We have no plans - short term, medium term or longer term – to manufacture our own engines [either].
"We have great respect for what Ferrari have achieved, but we will do things our own way. People will speculate because of our road car programme but it makes no sense for us."
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