Lewis Hamilton is feeling fresh and ready for the challenge ahead after taking a complete break from Formula 1 over the winter.
For the first time in his Formula 1 career Hamilton was beaten by a team-mate as Jenson Button finished second in the drivers' championship while Hamilton could only finish fifth.
The former world champion endured a difficult season with his frequent visits to the stewards' room resulting in him coming in for heavy criticism over his aggressive driving style.
Team principal Martin Whitmarsh allowed him to take time to recover over the winter months and he believes the break has given him a new outlook ahead of the 2012 season.
"The winter has been a great opportunity to recharge – I got away into the mountains, spent a lot of time hiking and running, improving my fitness and starting to prepare for the new year," Hamilton enthused.
"It’s always great to get away from everything; change the scenery. And what’s great about Formula 1 is that you start each season with the baseline completely reset – everybody starts again from zero – and that always makes me so hungry."
Hamilton joined Button on stage at McLaren's Woking headquarters to unveil the MP4-27 and the
27-year-old is confident the 2012 challenger can help the team threaten Red Bull's constructors' crown.
"I’ve been keenly following the development of MP4-27 over the winter and I’ve been really encouraged by the results and the data that the engineers have been showing me. I think we already had a very strong base to build upon: Jenson and I won six races with MP4-26 last year and I think we’ve been able to retain all the strengths and the reliability of that design while also incorporating lots of improvements and new ideas into the new car," he added.
"Of course, the biggest changes for 2012 are the modifications to the exhaust regulations – that will reduce the downforce and grip that we had last year, but it just puts the emphasis on the designers to try and claw some of that back in other areas.
"I get the feeling the MP4-27 is going to feel very new and exciting when we get to drive it for the first time."