BERLIN // McLaren pieced together their sleek new Formula One car bit by bit at a public launch today but made sure their secrets stayed well out of sight of curious rivals.
The last of the big teams to roll out their new car, the Mercedes-powered team took the show to the fans with the silver racer assembled in front of a crowd of fans in the Potsdamer Platz near the old Berlin Wall.
Wheels, pieces of bodywork and even the steering wheel were carried through the crowd by team members before being attached in near silence before a final blast of wheel guns completed the task with a flourish.
However the engine and exhausts on display were only fake parts and team bosses recognised that the car they would race in the season-opener in Bahrain on March 13 would look very different.
"This is the first time we have seen the car all together," 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton, shivering in his race overalls, told the crowd before throwing caps to them and signing autographs.
"I've been here since 2007 and every year the car always looks beautiful...to really see it come out as a whole, I think it looks fantastic.
"I hope it does translate to a good feeling on the track, I'm pretty sure it will...I think we will be quite a lot stronger this year." "This is our new baby," added 2009 champion and fellow-Briton Jenson Button. "This is the car that hopefully will take one of us to win the drivers' world championship and also the constructors'."
The car had been eagerly awaited, particularly by rivals curious to see whether the 2010 runners-up had something revolutionary up their sleeves.
While boasting distinctive U-shaped sidepods, the car failed to give away anything too sensational.
"Be warned, you haven't seen it all," team principal Martin Whitmarsh told reporters with a smile. "Quite naturally, we haven't shown you or our competitors our full hand today.
The season will see five champions on the starting grid, including Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, the 23-year-old who performed in front of far bigger Berlin crowds on his return with the title last year.
Both Red Bull and Mercedes, the team of Vettel's compatriot and seven times champion Michael Schumacher, presented their cars at the Valencia circuit in Spain on Tuesday before the first test of the season.