Team expect to be on the pace when it really counts
On the face of it, McLaren do not appear to be having a first-rate winter. Regarding the Woking based team`s areas of staff, budget, driver, car, gearbox, speed, engine and reliability, the specialist media has been filled with negative stories from the pre-season test tracks.
Mercedes` motor sport boss Norbert Haug, however, dismisses any claims that - despite having the quickest car in 2005 - McLaren is entering an era of crisis.

“Last year, too, we were not the winners of the winter test phase,” he told Express, “and the same is true for the beginning of last season.”

Spain`s Marca newspaper claimed last week that the MP4-21`s biggest problem is not the V8 engine, but the gearbox, and that new parts will be ready for the Jerez tests this week. “The car is getting better the more we run it,” stated Juan Pablo Montoya.

Haug also rejected claims that, with the loss of title sponsor West and the fact that Vodafone is not arriving until 2007, money might be a problem.

“There is no hole in the budget,” said the German. “In this department we are doing well. There is no crisis. Our objective has always been to win the title and it remains so.”

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