McLaren launch: The drivers perspective

Having taken a detailed look at the McLaren-Mercedes MP4-27 after its launch on February 1st, I thought it would be interesting to look back at the launch conference, and take a detailed re-cap on what McLaren-Mercedes 2012 Drivers Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton had to say about the car and the season ahead.

Jenson and Lewis, along with McLaren third driver Gary Paffett and test and development driver Oliver Turvey, were welcomed to the launch stage just after 11am by Sky Sports pundit David Croft, who was guiding and narrating the proceedings of the 2012 launch.
Opening the ceremony, Jenson was quick to acknowledge the hard work of the McLaren engineers over the winter break:

“First of all I need to say a big thank you to these guys. These guys have been flat out, since we finished the racing of 2011, on improving this car as much as they could in the simulator. So big thanks to them, and I’m looking forward to getting out in the car next week.”

David Croft then turns to both Jenson and Lewis and asks them to unveil McLaren’s challenger for the 2012 Formula 1 season, the Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes MP4-27.

The sheet over the car is then removed by Jenson and Lewis, much to the applaud of the packed press conference room in which the car is being displayed.

The audience then turns to Lewis Hamilton, who offers his thoughts on the MP4-27:

“I think it’s fantastic” he starts. “It’s great to be here again after a great winter, and just seeing the hard work that’s gone into building this car is, you know, it’s very inspiring, and I think the car is probably the most refined-looking car we’ve had for some time now”.

David and Jenson then exchange brief conversation about the importance of the upcoming testing, followed by an invitation to both drivers to take a closer look at the newly launched MP4-27.

“Obviously we’ve changed the side pods, we had the U-shaped side pods last year. The front of the car is generally the same. Obviously the nose dips down a little bit different to last year; we’ve changed our wing mirrors a little bit, so hopefully we’ll be able to see a lot better, which is something that I was pushing hard for” Lewis Hamilton tells of the new machine, throwing in a joke reference to the new mirrors that “Felipe will be very happy with that” (referring to the numerous ‘run ins’ Massa and Hamilton exchanged throughout the 2011 season).

Lewis then goes on to talk about how things have changed underneath the chassis, focusing on the redesign that had to take place due to the FIA’s change of rules on rear blown exhaust systems.

“The back of the car is a lot neater than it was last year. It’s much, much tighter. So they’ve focused very much on making it as snug as possible at the back to improve aerodynamics, and, yes, it’s just fully — it’s just completely refined. Obviously the wing is a little bit better in terms of dropping drag, and we’ve tried our best to improve the rear floor, especially with no blown diffuser this year it’s going to be very tricky for us. We’ll lose a lot of down force without the blown diffuser.”

Keeping focus on the fact that the ban on rear blown diffusers means grip from the rear will be sacrificed, Hamilton was quick to reassure the media that the team were dedicated to adapting to the changes as quickly as possible:

“I think the guys have done a fantastic job, and it’s a lot trickier to drive the way it is right now, but as we get into the season I think we’ll slowly begin to improve and find out where that down force can come from.”

Having talked about the MP4-27 changes with Lewis, David Croft then turn to the success of McLaren over the years, and questions Jenson on why it is the team has seen that success.

“I feel like I’m part of the team” Jenson tells the media of the fact he’s only been with the team for two years. “It’s very important to have that atmosphere where you all work together, you build the team together, and you race as a team, you know. You win and you lose together. And that is key to any team, be it a football team, a rugby team or a Formula 1 team.”

“We have a very good amount of engineers, aerodynamicists, but also the mechanics and everyone on this team seem to be very positive when they go into a new season. Even when things haven’t quite gone their way or the team’s way over the winter, they’re still very positive knowing they can really pull themselves to the front. And you can see that, because almost every year that this team races in Formula 1, they are challenging for a world championship, or very close to it, and they always come away with race victories. It’s a great place to be, and I’ve really enjoyed my time here so far, and this is only the beginning I feel” Jenson finishes.

Before turning for a brief conversation with test drivers Gary Paffett and Oliver Turvey, Croft asks Lewis Hamilton briefly about the fact that Lewis is now going into his sixth Formula 1 season with the Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes team.

“It feels very much like it was only yesterday that I went up to Ron, when I was 10, and explained to him that I wanted to race for his team. But it’s been a fantastic journey, and of course we’ve been competing at the front for all those years that I’ve been here. You know, we are one of the only teams, if not the only team, that’s won a Grand Prix every year, and three of those years we’ve been competing for the title right to the end, so it just shows, as Ron’s famous words are, our strength in depth. We’ve got a great team, with an incredible amount of strengths, a great foundation we work from.”

David Croft then has a couple of questions for Gary and Oliver, giving the media a chance to understand their personal contribution to the developmentof the MP4-27 over the winter period, as well as giving us an insight into their own careers in DTM and GT3, before turning the attention back to Jenson and Lewis to discuss the “subtle changes” to the regulations for 2012. Jenson discusses the fact that there are no major changes, just some slight implications to the exhaust system regulations and front nose cone. He finishes his thoughts proclaiming “everything seems good” and “everyone seems positive”.

David Croft then moves towards the final of the launch questions, and reminds the pair that between the two of them, they make up a third of the total [six] Formula 1 World Champions that will take to the grid in 2012. He is keen to hear whether or not Lewis believes this will be the “toughest year yet ever”?

“I hope so. I think that obviously we love to have the competition. I think it’s great to have so many great drivers out there. Obviously we hope that there’s not too many more world champions that will be added to it. I think there are definitely enough world champions. But I think that’s great for the fans, I think it’s great for the sport, and hopefully we will be able to put on a great show for everyone. But I think for us we are massively motivated for this year and coming in very fresh. I think, as we said, we do have a good looking car; I think generally when the car looks good, it generally is good, so hopefully that reflects on the circuit.”

David Croft then brings the launch of the Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes challenger for the 2012 Formula 1 season, the MP4-27, to a close, allowing the driver and team management to go to their individual interviews and question and answer sessions that are scheduled for the remainder of the day:

“Congratulations for being with us here and helping us unveil the MP4-27. Best of luck for the season. Ladies and gentlemen, please, Gary Paffett, Oliver Turvey, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.”

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