New McLaren breaks cover

Alexander Wurz will drive the car during the three-day test, while regular race drivers Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard continue to develop the MP4-17D, which is expected to be raced in the next two races at Monaco and Canada.

The MP4-18 will feature a shorter and lower nose, a more tightly packed rear and a slight dorsal fin shape to the engine cover. A new Mercedes engine, the FO 110P V10, has been built specifically for this car and will sit lower in the chassis to help its centre of gravity.

"We believe that the MP4-18 will represent a significant step forward for McLaren," said the team's managing director Martin Whitmarsh. "Our long-term strategy is to re-establish the team as a consistent winner, through increasing overall competitiveness and reliability.

McLaren's technical director Adrian Newey believes that his design team has gone further than ever before in terms of development and claims that an unprecedented level of research has gone into the car.

"With the approach that has been taken to the development process of the MP4-18, we, in collaboration with Mercedes-Benz, have been able to push the design as far as we can, to endeavour to achieve a significant performance gain," said Newey. "This car has probably had more research put into it than any car I have worked on. There are clearly visible developments to the car, such as the shorter, lower nose and rear end.

"The entire design team has particularly focused on the packaging of the car. The MP4-18 is generally much smaller than its predecessor, and it is quite tightly packed to achieve this. We have included some developments that aim to improve the aerodynamic efficiency, we have further increased attention to detail, and used some advanced material in its construction."