Jenson Button is relishing the opportunity to get behind the wheel of McLaren's MP4-27 at Jerez next week to assess what progress the team have made over the winter.
Button joined team-mate Lewis Hamilton to launch McLaren's 2012 challenger at the team's headquarters in Woking and while it may look very similar to the 2011 car, the team have stressed that the MP4-27 has been 'substantially revised' to ensure all the major systems are up-to-date for the new season.
While most of the changes are under the livery, last year's U-shaped sidepods have been redesigned and the bodywork has been tightened to improve flow to the rear of the car.
"With the regulations remaining relatively stable, we’ve really been able to focus on the detail with this year’s car. I still think we had a very fast package last year – it was very strong in certain areas – and our race pace was almost always fantastic, but we’re hoping for a further step forwards in 2012. With Mercedes-Benz, I think we also had the best overall engine and KERS Hybrid package in the pitlane," Button said.
"We were also able to continuously develop throughout the year to match Red Bull – and that shows that we have the knowledge, effort and resources to sustain our efforts across the course of a whole season, which can be crucial."
Pre-season testing begins at Jerez next week and Button is looking forward to the chance to find out just what his new car is capable of.
"I know that the whole team is extremely proud of the MP4-27. It may look like a direct evolution of last year’s car, but we’ve analysed every area of performance over the winter and the whole car has benefited from lots of fresh thinking and new ideas in every area. I’m really looking forward to getting behind the wheel in Spain next week," he added.
"I know that everyone will be watching us very closely to see what progress we make during the pre-season tests, but I genuinely believe we have every reason to feel optimistic about the progress we’ve made and our competitiveness this year."