STUTTGART, Germany — McLaren is determined to put the spy scandal behind it, and the team sent out a strong message when it unveiled the new McLaren Mercedes MP4-23 at Mercedes-Benz’s stunning eight-floor museum in Stuttgart.
Dr. Dieter Zetsche, the chairman of the Daimler board, the British ambassador to Germany, the mayor of Stuttgart, other local dignitaries and one Bernard Ecclestone all attended the launch.
The message to the FIA and the rest of the world was clear: McLaren heads into 2008 with its head held high and with very strong support from people in high places. Ecclestone never attends launches except for times such as Toyota’s unveiling its first F-1 car.
“We are determined to lead the field this year,” Zetsche said.
Given the winning pedigree of the MP-22, the new McLaren is an evolution of last year’s car. Still, it’s virtually a new machine.
“We certainly had a number of circuits where the MP4-22 was extremely competitive, and we hope we can return there this year and be competitive on those circuits,” the team’s CEO Martin Whitmarsh explained. “We sit down in an analytical way, but we are very critical of where we felt, perhaps on long runs, perhaps on some high speed corners, we had deficiency on the car. And we were very concentrated on those areas of the vehicle dynamics to improve the performance.
“Inevitably it is an evolution. F-1, though, is so competitive now and the cars are so integrated in every respect and every system, that year on year we change about 85 percent of the part count of the car. If we include the engine as only one component, there are nearly 12,000 parts that build a car. And 85 percent of those are new at the launch of the car, and of course they will evolve during the season.”
The wheelbase of the MP4-23 is longer, and the designers managed to achieve an optimum weight  distribution [slightly forward from last year’s car] that won’t require moving ballast to the extremes of the car.
Slimmer, more sculpted bodywork around the engine and gearbox are part of the car’s new aerodynamic package, but Whitmarsh says the aero “furniture” will undergo a complete makeover before the first race of the 2008 season in Melbourne, Australia.