The new McLaren MP4-20 made its debut at the Barcelona Circuit last week where the Woking based squad tested behind closed doors for the four days before being joined at the Spanish track by Ferrari and Sauber for the final day.
Both drivers, Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya spent time behind the wheel of the 2005 contender, three days for Kimi, two for Juan and declared themselves more than happy with its performances. However, they were not the only ones happy with the way the test unfolded as the new Mercedes engine completed the task at hand without any problems….
"Kimi Raikkonen and Juan-Pablo Montoya have covered more than 1100 kilometers on five test days since Monday. Kimi was at the wheel for the first three days whilst Juan-Pablo drove on Thursday and Friday. On both days he covered more than one Grand Prix distance respectively,” said Norbert Haug, Vice President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport. “All tests were run with one engine and this ran like a clockwork. The team only had to deal with only a few technical problems, in general, however, there were unforseen 'artic' temperatures in Barcelona and on Monday, at the end of the test day, there was even light snow fall. Despite the track conditions being not at all ideal rather impressive times were achieved- what they are worth we will, however, only see at Melbourne in five weeks."
“This week has seen a productive first test of MP4-20, and we have received very positive feedback from both Kimi and Juan Pablo on the car,” added Martin Whitmarsh. “The extreme cold weather in Barcelona over the last few days did result in a temporary delay to the daily start time of our scheduled program while we waited for the track temperature to increase. We have however completed a series of long runs over the week and conducted all the necessary checks associated with the running of a new car.“
;)
