13/01/2011
NEWS STORY
McLaren has dismissed speculation that the late launch of its 2011 contender is due to a problem with the car.
While most teams will be running their new cars at the opening pre-season test in Valencia, McLaren has revealed that it will be running an interim car, with the MP4-26 due to be launched a couple of days later (February 4) in Berlin.
This has led to speculation that the team might have run into problems, indeed, there has been speculation that the car failed a couple of crash tests, a rumour the team firmly denied when contacted by Pitpass earlier this week.
Speaking in a teleconference earlier today, the team's engineering director, Paddy Lowe, was keen to set the record straight.
"It's always been in our plans to launch it after the first test," he said. "One of the reasons was that we wanted to make use of the first test to work with, a stable and known platform while we understood the new tyres. It also gave us a bit more time in the programme for the new car.
"It's always been planned that way," he added. "It's just a plan we arrived at and one we considered optimal in race preparation overall."