McLaren unveil car

McLaren vowed to avoid a repeat of last year’s troubled winter testing as they unveiled the car which will carry the hopes of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button into the new Formula One season yesterday.

Former world champions Hamilton and Button were left in Sebastian Vettel’s slipstream for much of last year as the Red Bull driver clinched back-to-back world titles.

McLaren’s failure to mount a sustained challenge has been traced back to a poor winter of testing where the Woking-based marque struggled to find a competitive set-up for their car.

However, McLaren chiefs said they expect the new MP4-27 to be capable of tackling Red Bull when the 2012 season gets under way.

“We won’t know until qualifying in Australia where this car is,” team principal Martin Whitmarsh said.

“Last year we had, by McLaren standards, an abysmal winter testing session where we didn’t have pace. It was a relatively stressful process, and, of course, I’d be much happier to be not fighting those issues.

“There’s a lot of work gone into this car and we believe we’re in a better position this winter compared to last.”

Hamilton, meanwhile, welcomed the prospect of a Formula One season that will see no fewer than six world champions lining up on the grid.

Hamilton, Button and Vettel will be joined by Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen, the highest number of world champions ever to start a Formula One season.

“We love to have competition. It’s great to have so many great drivers. Hopefully, there won’t be too many more added to it,” Hamilton said.

“It’s great for fans, great for the sport.”