Productive and encouraging week of testing for McLaren

It has been a special first week of winter testing for the McLaren Mercedes team. Lewis Hamilton had his first test since he was officially announced as the second race driver of the team during the 2007 season and Mika Hakkinen got behind the wheel of the MP4-21 today.

"This week has been my first test as an official Team McLaren Mercedes Formula 1 driver and I have enjoyed every moment of it. With the announcement being made last week it has meant that I have been able to come here and really get to grips with driving the Formula 1 car and building a relationship with the team in preparation for the 2007 season. It is early days still but this week has been really positive, I have got some good mileage in the car and the work we have done with the Bridgestone Potenza tyres has been really encouraging. I had to spend a little time in the garage on Wednesday whilst team made some changes to the set up, but that is often the case when testing and I need to get used to it. If I am honest it was a little frustrating but only because I wanted to be driving the car as much as possible as I still have a huge smile on my face each time I pull out of the garage."

"Our first week back on the test track after the winter break has been very productive and encouraging. This was the first test we have carried out with our Tyre Partner Bridgestone and so our main focus has been on evaluating their performance with our package and so far we have gathered some positive results. We have also been weighing up some aerodynamic packages for 2007 alongside a continuing brake assessment programme. It has been great to get back out on the track and start working towards the challenge of the 2007 season."

"It has been an exciting day for me and I have really enjoyed the opportunity to drive a Formula 1 car after a five year break, made even more special as it was with Team McLaren Mercedes that I won my two World Championships with. I spent the morning really acclimatising to the environment of the cockpit again and just getting to grips with driving a 2006 car, I didn't expect to be quick straight away, and Barcelona is of course a hard track on both the car and driver, and it took several laps before I was up to speed, but we were all expecting this to be the case. Although it was great fun today I also had to do some serious work for the team, as any feedback I could give them from today's experience will help them with their preparations for the 2007 season. As a result I was really pushing to try and do the best job that I could to assist them in any way possible. We have done some good work today and got some great results and I am really grateful to the team for this opportunity and the mechanics for working so hard for me."