VODAFONE McLAREN MERCEDES MP4-23 UNVEILED AT STUTTGART
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes today presented the MP4-23, the
team’s 2008 Formula 1 car, at the Mercedes-Benz Museum
in Stuttgart.
Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Daimler Board, and Ron
Dennis, Chairman and CEO of the McLaren Group, welcomed all
the guests to the official presentation, with Lewis Hamilton,
who celebrates his 23rd birthday today, and Heikki Kovalainen
joined on stage by Pedro de la Rosa and fellow test driver
Gary Paffett to unveil the MP4-23. The car was completed yesterday
and left the McLaren Technology Centre in the UK at around
18:00 GMT on Sunday and was driven in a Mercedes-Benz Actros
to the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart-Untertürkheim,
having covered approximately 1000kms, arriving around 10:00
this morning.
Upon arrival in Stuttgart, the car was transported to the
53,000 sqm Mercedes-Benz Museum, one of the world’s
largest and most renowned car museums. About 700 Mercedes-Benz
employees from the nearby manufacturing plant Stuttgart-Untertürkheim
had the opportunity to attend today’s event at the end
of their early shift alongside the more than 400 media and
other guests. The Mercedes-Benz employees had the opportunity
to enter a draw of which the lucky winners were able to meet
and spend some time with Lewis and Heikki.
Following today’s event the car will be transported
to the Circuito de Jerez in Southern Spain, where on Wednesday
9thJanuary Heikki and Pedro will start the test programme
with two MP4-23 chassis at a private test. The team will remain
at the circuit for five track days, excluding the weekend.
Lewis will drive the 2008 car for the first time on Thursday
10th January alongside Heikki.
LEWIS HAMILTON
"The Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP4-23 is the coolest
birthday present you can get, well it is for me anyway! To
see the car for the first time at such a great place as the
Mercedes-Benz museum makes it an even more memorable day.
I have had the past three weeks off and spent the time training
and relaxing with family and friends. I know how much work
has been going on in Woking, Brixworth and here in Stuttgart
and it is a great looking car. My engineer has told me that
approximately 14,000 manufacturing man hours have been involved
to produce the car in time for today. I will be testing it
for the first time on Thursday. It is going to be a busy time
but myself, Heikki, who I welcome as my new teammate, and
everyone within the team is looking forward to it as we push
forward together."
HEIKKI KOVALAINEN
"Today is my first official event as a Vodafone McLaren
Mercedes driver and it hasn’t come soon enough. After
joining the team on the 14th December, I have already spent
some time at the McLaren Technology Centre getting to know
everybody and working with my engineers. It is also great
to be here at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart today
to meet the Mercedes-Benz employees, media and VIP guests
for the first time as a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver.
I was able to learn a lot last year, and hope to take that
knowledge into the 2008 season. I am looking forward to contributing
to the development of the car during the six main tests in
the build-up to Melbourne. It is a really exciting time for
me to be joining Vodafone McLaren Mercedes."
Dr DIETER ZETSCHE, CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF THE MANAGEMENT
OF DAIMLER AG AND HEAD OF MERCEDES-BENZ CARS
"I am confident that, with Heikki and Lewis, we’ll
have a very strong driver team on the track. All of us at
Daimler are extremely proud of the tremendous track record
of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team. They prove once again:
You can’t be with Daimler or Mercedes-Benz without wanting
to belong to the best - that’s in the DNA of our company
in a way. And that applies also for the motorsport."
RON DENNIS, CHAIRMAN & CEO, McLAREN GROUP
"The ultimate goal of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team
is to fight for both the Drivers’ and Constructors’
World Championships. We are looking forward to another competitive
season as we look to build on the momentum of last year. Every
single member of the team has worked extremely hard since
the end of the 2007 season to get the MP4-23 on track as soon
as possible, to ensure we have the maximum amount of testing
time available before the cars leave for Australia. We are
all extremely pleased to have the opportunity to launch our
new car at the Mercedes-Benz museum in Stuttgart underlining
the strength of our partnership."
MARTIN WHITMARSH, CEO FORMULA 1, VODAFONE McLAREN
MERCEDES
"Development of the MP4-23 began in earnest 10 months
ago and everyone in Woking, Brixworth and Stuttgart have worked
very hard during the last few weeks, and particularly over
the Christmas period, to make today’s presentation here
in Stuttgart happen. In addition we have continued to benefit
from tremendous support from all of our Technology Partners.
We are confident, based upon the simulation and analysis which
has been an integral part of the development process, that
the MP4-23 represents a step forward. Of course we will continue
to develop the car from now until the first race in Australia
and see whether we have done enough to be at the level where
we want to compete this coming season. From today we have
68 working days until the Australian Grand Prix, and everybody
within the team is highly motivated to travel to Melbourne
with the most competitive package possible."
NORBERT HAUG, VICE PRESIDENT, MERCEDES-BENZ MOTORSPORT
"Our Museum is a unique place for this event. More than
160 Mercedes-Benz cars, amongst them 30 historic racing cars
representing more than 100 years of Mercedes-Benz motor sport
heritage create a most remarkable environment for the presentation
of the new Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP4-23. I am really pleased
that we are able to present with this car launch many of our
colleagues from the nearby Untertürkheim manufacturing
plant a New Years surprise today. The media presence at our
compact presentation today was massive, which is an additional
motivation for everybody in the team to start the 2008 season
with the target to finish one point ahead instead of one point
behind the opposition."
DAVID WHELDON, GLOBAL DIRECTOR OF CUSTOMER AND BRAND
EXPERIENCE, VODAFONE
"Vodafone is delighted to be entering this second season
as Title Sponsor and Official Mobile Partner of the Vodafone
McLaren Mercedes team. Formula 1 is all about 'Making the
most of Now' and similarly, we want all our customers to get
the most out of their time. We look forward to building on
our successful partnership and wish the team all the best
for the 2008 season."
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