McLaren shows off its MP4-28

January 31st, 2013 (F1plus Team).- A new contender for the 2013 Formula 1 championship just saw the light as today McLaren revealed the MP4-28 to the public.

No longer Lewis Hamilton had the honors of uncovering a McLaren car, this time the turn was for the newcomer Sergio Perez along with his teammate Jenson Button, the latter entering his fourth season with the Woking based team.

Visually speaking, the MP4-28 looks appealing as they usually do. The chrome coating shines and provides the unequivocally sense of a cool looking car.

Nevertheless, looking good does not guarantee performance. Besides, most of the new cars we are starting to see do not show the entire package. One the reasons for that is to avoid providing too much clues to the competition, and another because the pre-season testing will also define many of the components that will be present for the first round at Melbourne.

At first glance, the new car is similar to the MP4-27 (just like the Lotus E21 resembles the E20), but those in charge have insisted that it is 'massively different' on the inside, full of tweaks that should make it a title contender.

"As people start to learn about this car they will see that there are quite a lot of changes to the car, but it is an evolution," said Team Principal Martin Whitmarsh.

“There's been a tremendous effort on processes of design and development and reliability and looking at our processes of how we run the race team. It's very clear nowadays, particularly when you've got very stable regulations that it's very unforgiving - if you don't score points then you quickly sit behind.

“Fernando Alonso and Ferrari maximized the points out of product that they had and we didn't. We've worked very hard on that this year and we are intent of putting that right." Whitmarsh added.

Before the official unveiling McLaren made a tribute to its long history of success in Formula 1 and brought some of the team's most iconic creations. Button, Pérez and other drivers within the McLaren team drove few cars from the past around the beautiful lake that surrounds the Technology Centre, before finding their way through the doors to make a stop in front of the gathered media.

"The launch of a new Formula 1 car is always an exciting and slightly nerve-wracking occasion."

"Today’s parade of some of our greatest and most significant cars was a thrilling way to kick off our 50th anniversary celebrations and also our 2013 campaign – but it’s a reminder of the tremendous responsibility everyone within the McLaren Technology Centre shares to uphold the legacy began by Bruce McLaren and taken on by Teddy Mayer and Ron Dennis."