Hamilton Says McLaren MP4-26 Different from Rival Cars

All major title contenders for the 2011 Formula 1 championship have already unveiled their challengers prior to the first group test of the winter, in Valencia, trying to do as much mileage as possible before the season opening Bahrain Grand Prix. The sole exception is McLaren Mercedes, who showed up at the Ricardo Tormo circuit this week with their 2010-spec challenger.

As confirmed by McLaren a while back, the MP4-26 racer will be unveiled tomorrow, in Berlin, as part of title sponsor Vodafone's media event.

While many would be inclined to believe that Ferrari, Red Bull or even Mercedes GP may hold the upper hand on McLaren in testing because of this, 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton begs to differ. In fact, not driving his 2011-spec McLaren in Valencia has given him the chance to thoroughly evaluate the competition this week. And what we should expect is a totally different car than what we've seen so far.

“Our car looks different to others and I hope it reflects on its performance,” Hamilton was quoted as saying in a brief encounter with the BBC. “Ferrari and Red Bull look more like an evolution of last year's car.”

So far, some common characteristics have been quite visible on all F1 challengers, starting with the high nose design, continuing with the reworked sidepods and ending with important changes on the underbodies.

Hamilton will have his first chance at testing the MP4-26 next week, at Jerez, when the second winter test kicks off on February 10th. Two more teams are scheduled to bring in their 2011-spec cars at Jerez, namely Force India and Marussia Virgin Racing.