McLaren Mercedes MP4-26 Revealed in Berlin

McLaren Mercedes has become the 9th team to unveil its 2011 single-seater to the world, during their scheduled Vodafone media event in Berlin, Germany. Choosing a more uncommon car launch as compared to their rivals, the new MP4-26 was introduced to the media and fans present in Berlin by the team's two world champions Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.

As revealed by Hamilton after his Wednesday running in Valencia (with the old MP4-25 car), McLaren's challenger for the season to come features an interesting design, presenting some lines different from the ones debuted by its rivals.

The nose of the McLaren MP4-26 features the same high design though, while its sidepods are extremely sculpted and L-shaped. In addition, the airbox tweaks have been intensively reworked, while the car's exhaust system presents a classic rear-side design.

McLaren did not reveal the true reasons behind its decision to launch the MP4-26 later than its rivals, saying only that the extra days in the wind tunnel would help the technicians better set up the single-seater for its first official test of the winter, at Jerez.

Consequently, McLaren missed out on 3 days (out of 15) of testing this winter, as they had to bring their 2010-spec MP4-25 in Valencia this week.

Lewis Hamilton will become the first driver to give the new challenger some decent track time next week, when McLaren will tackle the 4-day Jerez test with their iniaital 2011 package.