MP4-20 completes first day of test

The Team McLaren Mercedes team's 2005 challenger has completed its first day of running in Barcelona, Spain. MP4-20, which exited the garage for the first time at 10.12 this morning, has completed 26 laps of the 4.730 km/ 2.939 mile Circuit de Catalunya, before running was brought to an end following a light snow shower on the circuit.

Kimi Raikkonen tests the new McLaren Mercedes MP4-20.

Photo by DaimlerChrysler.

Having arrived at the circuit in the early hours of the morning, MP4-20 completed an installation lap and one timed-lap, before returning to the track for some longer runs, in cold but dry and sunny weather conditions, with temperatures not exceeding 10 degrees centigrade.

Team McLaren Mercedes driver Kimi Raikkonen, who has driven the new car during today's session said, "As always with a shakedown of a new car, today we have focused on various tests and checks that need to be done, because you know with new cars you are first working on reliability and then move onto speed. Towards the end of the day we started to complete some longer timed runs and it was great to start pushing the car. We are getting a good feel for the car, and I am looking forward to putting more laps in tomorrow here at Barcelona."

Martin Whitmarsh, CEO Formula One, Team McLaren Mercedes added, "We have been able to work through our planned schedule with MP4-20 and have therefore concluded a productive first day of testing here in Barcelona. As is symptomatic of a first days running with a new car, we have encountered a couple of minor teething issues, but that is to be expected and the purpose of test sessions such as today. The team has been successful in working through these and we continue testing MP4-20 tomorrow, with an emphasis on testing systems and establishing a reliable package before moving onto performance-related work."

Norbert Haug, Vice President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport continued, "It was a productive first day and Kimi collected some good impressions from the new MP4-20. I think the 19B in its current configuration is quite a good benchmark for Formula One cars of the 2005 generation, and so the team can sum up the first impressions of the new package as being positive."

The Team McLaren Mercedes team will be present at Barcelona all week, with Kimi driving MP4-20 until end of running on Wednesday 26th January. From Thursday, teammate Juan Pablo Montoya will be at the wheel.

-mclaren-