McLaren launched the MP4-27

McLaren has launched its 2012 car - the MP4-27 - at the McLaren Technology Centre.

The car is an evolution of the MP4-26 which took six victories in 2011, with the team hoping to close the gap to Red Bull this year. The car features a different front end solution to the Caterham that was launched last week, with a gradual transition between the lower nose and chassis. The sculpted sidepods that were prominent on the MP4-26 have also been redesigned, while the car features a neater rear end than the 2011 car.

The new car will be driven for the first time by Oliver Turvey during a straigh-line test ahead of its track debut on Tuesday at the first pre-season test in Jerez, with Jenson Button at the wheel for the first two days before handing over to Lewis Hamilton.

Button hoping for 'further step forwards'

Jenson Button says that he is hoping the new McLaren MP4-27 will provide the team with "a further step forwards in 2012".

McLaren won six grands prix in 2011 with Button and team-mate Lewis Hamilton securing three victories each. Despite those wins, Sebastian Vettel was dominant in the Red Bull winning six of the first seven races before McLaren could mount any sustained challenge. As a result, Button said that he hoped that the new car could build on the progress made towards the end of last season with the MP4-26.

"With the regulations remaining relatively stable, we've really been able to focus on the detail with this year's car," Button said. "I still think we had a very fast package last year - it was very strong in certain areas - and our race pace was almost always fantastic, but we're hoping for a further step forwards in 2012. With Mercedes-Benz, I think we also had the best overall engine and KERS Hybrid package in the pitlane.

"We were also able to continuously develop throughout the year to match Red Bull - and that shows that we have the knowledge, effort and resources to sustain our efforts across the course of a whole season, which can be crucial. I know that the whole team is extremely proud of the MP4-27. It may look like a direct evolution of last year's car, but we've analysed every area of performance over the winter and the whole car has benefited from lots of fresh thinking and new ideas in every area."

Button also admitted that after the difficulties of the 2011 pre-season it would be important to maximise the potential of the car early on.

"I'm really looking forward to getting behind the wheel in Spain next week. I know that everyone will be watching us very closely to see what progress we make during the pre-season tests, but I genuinely believe we have every reason to feel optimistic about the progress we've made and our competitiveness this year."

Hamilton 'hungry' after winter break

Lewis Hamilton insists that he is "so hungry" to start the new season after recharging during the winter break.

Despite taking three victories Hamilton suffered a difficult year in 2011 as issues in his personal life started to affect his performance on-track. Having been beaten by a team-mate across a season in Formula One for the first time, Hamilton admitted that it had been "great to get away from everything".

"The winter has been a great opportunity to recharge," Hamilton said. "I got away into the mountains, spent a lot of time hiking and running, improving my fitness and starting to prepare for the New Year. It's always great to get away from everything; change the scenery. And what's great about Formula 1 is that you start each season with the baseline completely reset - everybody starts again from zero - and that always makes me so hungry."

Hamilton admitted that while he was away he kept in close contact with the team to monitor the progress of the MP4-27.

"I've been keenly following the development of MP4-27 over the winter and I've been really encouraged by the results and the data that the engineers have been showing me. I think we already had a very strong base to build upon: Jenson and I won six races with MP4-26 last year and I think we've been able to retain all the strengths and the reliability of that design while also incorporating lots of improvements and new ideas into the new car.

"Of course, the biggest changes for 2012 are the modifications to the exhaust regulations - that will reduce the downforce and grip that we had last year, but it just puts the emphasis on the designers to try and claw some of that back in other areas. I get the feeling the MP4-27 is going to feel very new and exciting when we get to drive it for the first time."

ESPNF1