We have seen the new Mclaren MP4-21 formula one car in testing for a little while now. We knew that Mclaren would deliver a striking car. But now it has been seen in full colors and livery there is only one word for it; stunning, sorry two words, absolutely stunning. The press have dubbed previous Mclaren cars as the "silver arrow" but the new 2006 MP4-21 car has a sheen that makes the silver almost look like chrome plate. Some of the familiar sponsorship has also gone, with a well know whiskey brand now more prominent, although the official pictures do not yet show any advertising on their rear wings, which are now a striking red color.
Of course it will take more than a good-looking car to win races and Mclaren have not been short of their technical problems during this winters preparation. It appears that Mercedes who provide the engines for Mclaren have struggled with reliability problems with their new V8 engine and have admitted they are not where they would like to be so near to the start of the season, with the first race in Bahrain. It would not be the first time that Mclaren have suffered reliability problems at the beginning of the season. Just last season reliability problems reduced Kimis points well below what was expected early on, however as the season progressed the Mclaren car, then clearly became the fastest on the grid. Had the reliability been there during the early races, chances are it would not have been Alonso taking the world championship but a "silver arrow" driver.
One thing you can be certain of is that Mercedes will be working around the clock to iron out these issues and will continue working until the package is competitive or even unbeatable. Alonso the current world champion has already signed for Mclaren for 2007 and will want to beat them this season, but will also be hoping the car is competitive and lessons learned in time for his showing in 2007. They say beauty is only skin deep, but lets hope in this case the beauty can extend to what is under the car, to give the spectators a season to remember.
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