McLaren look to new era with MP4-20

McLaren today launched the car they hope will finally end Ferrari’s dominance of Formula One.

The Woking-based team rolled out the new machine at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya and Kimi Raikkonen clocked the first laps for the MP4-20.

McLaren have high expectations to live up to after a turbulent 2004 when they began the season significantly off the pace but recovered to challenge for race wins.

Raikkonen’s first impressions of the car were good but he confessed the pressure is now on himself and fellow race driver Juan Pablo Montoya, as well as testers Alex Wurz and Pedro de la Rosa, to turn a good design into a race winner.

He said: “A lot of time, effort and work has been invested in the new car, with the engineers working more for us than ever before.

“My first impression after these few laps is a good one, however, the work for me and my driver colleagues starts only now.”

Team boss Ron Dennis was upbeat after seeing his team’s latest creation in action for the first time.

Much work has gone into avoiding the troubled start which wrecked 2004, when solid testing times masked serious flaws in the car’s design.

Dennis is confident the new car has the potential to threaten Ferrari.

He said: “Since MP4-20 was fired up for the first time at 2.30am on Thursday at the McLaren Technology Centre, the anticipation of the car’s initial run has been building and we are pleased to have completed its shakedown this morning.

“Today’s unveiling is the first tangible demonstration of the team’s preparations for the 2005 season, a year that has the potential to be exciting and positive for all the teams, our partners and the fans alike.

“There is feverish work taking place across the team to achieve the best possible result for the this year.”