Jenson Button's New Car Revealed

I’d like to make very clear from the outset that I am no turncoat. This season, I will not be reporting on McLaren’s race weekends in the same way as I did Honda; I am no McLaren fan.

However, I am a huge Jenson fan (as some of you may know, for those of you that don’t...I have supported Honda since Jens joined; I supported Brawn GP, but I don’t like the new direction the team is taking). I haven’t decided whether to review McLaren’s races next year or make the switch to a general race review.

Anyway, I digress, what I mean to say is that by commenting on the McLaren launch, I don’t want to make readers who know my loyalties, think I’m simply going to fall in love with the Vodaphone team.

Just a few days after the launch of the rather pretty (but basically visually similar) Ferrari F10, McLaren have launched their very different looking MP4-25 at the headquarters of sponsors Vodafone in Newbury, GB.

It certainly looks different! The Ferrari seems to only really have a new nose (of course, I know there will be lots of other changes, they just aren’t so prominent). The McLaren on the other hand, has a very individual take on the strange engine-cover fins from last year, and a new nose and front wing.

The quick driver interview was...interesting to say the least. Jenson may have said, "It looks pretty amazing," after the covers came off, but he seemed pretty apprehensive overall. I don’t know, perhaps he was nervous, but I get the impression he was a bit uncomfortable. Don’t forget he is not necessarily going to be the team leader this year.

When Hamilton was asked to comment on his teammate, neither driver looked 100 percent comfortable, but they both managed smiles and even a hug. Don’t get me wrong, I really don’t want to fuel or create any silly rivalry stories, I just think that Jens and Lewis have a strange relationship. But hey, it’s only the early stages; they need to get to know each other as teammates.

That’s all I have to say really. Check the car out on F1.com or the official team Web site. Let’s see how Jens handles his new machine in February.