McLaren cagey amidst speculation that it could miss opening pre-season test.

Whilst the news that the ‘Ronster' is back in charge still sinks in, there is speculation that one of the first issues he will have to deal with is McLaren's 2014 contender.

Some sections of the media are reporting that while the MP4-29 has passed most of the mandatory crash tests it has failed others.

In the old days, when Ron Dennis was in charge, teams could take to the test track before undergoing the crash tests, it was only once the real racing began that it was mandatory to have passed all the relevant trials.

All that changed in 2012 however, and now cars have to pass the tests before they can turn a wheel on track.

With the MP4-29 due to be launched on Friday 24 January, and the first test beginning on Tuesday 28 January, the Woking outfit would already appear to be under pressure.

Contacted by Pitpass a McLaren spokesperson played down the speculation: "At this time of the year it's normal for all teams to be pushing everything to the limit in an effort to extract the most performance, and crash tests are no different. McLaren will pass all the tests prior to track running."

Which, of course, tells us nothing. While not confirming whether it has or hasn't passed all the tests, the fact is that McLaren has to pass all tests before running. Furthermore, no mention is made of when that "track running" might occur... be it Jerez or Bahrain.

After Lotus Technical Director Nick Chester revealed that his team would not attend the Jerez test, team boss Eric Boullier subsequently insisted that he knew of other teams that would not be present.

All eyes on Woking.

Chris Balfe