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Thursday, 10 January 2008 |
The 2008 Mclaren
The 2008 Vodafone McLaren Mercedes was unveiled at the Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart before a huge gathering of the representatives of the world's media. Ron Dennis, Chairman & CEO, McLaren Group said, "The ultimate goal of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team is to fight for both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ World Championships. We are looking forward to another competitive season as we look to build on the momentum of last year. Every single member of the team has worked extremely hard since the end of the 2007 season to get the MP4-23 on track as soon as possible, to ensure we have the maximum amount of testing time available before the cars leave for Australia."
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Martin Whitmarsh, CEO Formula 1, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes said, "Development of the MP4-23 began in earnest 10 months ago and everyone in Woking, Brixworth and Stuttgart have worked very hard during the last few weeks, and particularly over the Christmas period, to make today’s presentation here in Stuttgart happen. In addition we have continued to benefit from tremendous support from all of our Technology Partners. We are confident, based upon the simulation and analysis which has been an integral part of the development process, that the MP4-23 represents a step forward. Of course we will continue to develop the car from now until the first race in Australia and see whether we have done enough to be at the level where we want to compete this coming season. From today we have 68 working days until the Australian Grand Prix, and everybody within the team is highly motivated to travel to Melbourne with the most competitive package possible."
 Lewis Hamilton added, "The Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP4-23 is the coolest birthday present you can get, well it is for me anyway! To see the car for the first time at such a great place as the Mercedes-Benz museum makes it an even more memorable day. I have had the past three weeks off and spent the time training and relaxing with family and friends. I know how much work has been going on in Woking, Brixworth and here in Stuttgart and it is a great looking car. My engineer has told me that approximately 14,000 manufacturing man hours have been involved to produce the car in time for today. I will be testing it for the first time on Thursday. It is going to be a busy time but myself, Heikki, who I welcome as my new teammate, and everyone within the team is looking forward to it as we push forward together."
 Heikki Kovalainen said, "Today is my first official event as a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver and it hasn’t come soon enough. After joining the team on the 14th December, I have already spent some time at the McLaren Technology Centre getting to know everybody and working with my engineers. I was able to learn a lot last year, and hope to take that knowledge into the 2008 season. I am looking forward to contributing to the development of the car during the six main tests in the build-up to Melbourne. It is a really exciting time for me to be joining Vodafone McLaren Mercedes."
MP4-23 FACTFILE
The first design meeting for the MP4-23 took place back in November 2006 with early layout work starting in March 2007.
Wind tunnel work commenced in late May 2007.
Since then the MP4-23 has spent over 3000 hours being developed in the wind tunnel.
The first MP4-23 chassis was ready for bonding in mid November 2007.
Lewis Hamilton, Pedro de la Rosa and Gary Paffett had their provisional seat fittings for the MP4-23 back in September 2007. Heikki Kovalainen was fitted for his seat shortly after being announced as a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver.
The car build process for chassis 1 began in early December 2007 and was finished in early January 2008.
Throughout the development process 150 different engineers have been involved in the whole project in all disciplines.
14000 engineering man hours have so far been put into the MP4-23 development project.
A similar number applies to the manufacturing man hours involved to produce the MP4-23 in time for its track debut on the 9th January 2008.
The MP4-23 is an evolution of the MP4-22 and as such there is no significant visual difference currently, however between now and the first race in Australia there are planned upgrades on most of the aerodynamic surfaces, wings, bodywork, bargeboards and additional bodywork components.
Alongside the development of the 2008 challenger, concept work has been started for the 2009 car since November 2007, with the KERS project (energy storage) beginning a year ago.
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