McLaren Stick With Tradition and Go 'Radical'

The MP4-25 is one of the cars that I have been looking forward to seeing the most; not just because it is the car on which national hopes sit (with Lewis and Jenson as drivers), but because McLaren are ALWAYS aggressive in their car design. They haven't disappointed.

Where Ferrari produced a car that could best be described as neat and efficient, the McLaren looks like something that Q could have invented for James Bond - striking and attractive but riddled with gadgets primed to take out the enemy. From front to back, I get the feeling that this car is at the limits of the rulebook and that could be a good omen for the Woking team.

The front wing shows delicate and intricate engineering - extra levels on the wing that you know will be effective at levelling the ratio of grip between the front and rear tyres (remember that the extra weight over the rear from the bigger fuel tank could otherwise unbalance the car). The nose appears to be a hybrid of last year's McLaren and Red Bull; aggressive and yet not the most striking part of the car. The sidepods are the polar opposite to the Ferrari's - these are small but not sleek; rather they drop off as soon as they can so that the engine cover makes up the remainder of the rear shell. Then there is the most advance 'shark fin' that I have seen. This gives the appearance of a very short car but I'm sure that the rear stability gained from attaching the fin to the rear wing is the bigger driving force for the design.

Then there is the stuff you can't see - (team boss) Martin Whitmarsh eluded to how there have been big changes to the new diffuser but, like Ferrari yesterday, McLaren kept it covered. This will be where the teams that missed out last year will make up most ground and you could find that the diffuser is as big an issue this year as last.

My verdict?

McLaren has stuck with its philosophy of being at the limit of the rules and it is clear that with no KERS to distract them they have made great strides aerodynamically this year. Make no mistake, this car could well be the most developed straight out of the box - and if it's not then you wouldn't bet against it being the most developed by the time that Bahrain comes around.

From what I have seen (not to mention the rumours that Ferrari are already considering the need for a B-spec car; they don't seem confident) I would have to predict that this McLaren would be better than the F10 from yesterday. Only time will tell but I would now put the McLaren drivers as favourite for the title.