After much delay, the MP4-18 has been revealed.

By Parminio
May 22 2003

The car has been revealed at the Paul Ricard circuit in France, where she underwent her first lap on Wednesday. Although no competitive times were set, the initial test was for systems annalysis.

Those systems seemed to be ok, save for a hydraulic sensor that went on the blink. Today however, the MP4-18 stalled on it's out lap for no apparent reason. This is to be expected, as the car is just now doing its first shakedown laps.

The electronics are typically the hardest thing to work out on any new car, hence the failures that are bound to happen in the early days. The problem for McLaren fans is simply: How long will it take to sort them out, and after that, how fast will the car actually be?

Only time will answer that question, but one thing is for certain: The new MP4-18 looks marvelous. The nose is so small, one wonders how strong it can be. the rear end, although resembling the Williams FW-25, seems to be VERY narrow at the extream back...far more so than many other cars. It also appears that McLaren are once again exiting the exhaust through the diffusor...something that McLaren had gone away from over the last two years.

The car in short is everything they said it would be: Unlike any McLaren before it. Let's hope that she's as fast as she looks!