McLaren MP4-25 launch pictures
29 January 2010 by Keith Collantine
Button and Hamilton reveal the McLaren-Mercedes MP4-25
McLaren has launched its 2010 challenger, the MP4-25.
The MP4-25 was officially presented at the headquarters of title sponsor Vodafone, with Lewis Hamilton joined by new team mate Jenson Button.
Some images of the MP4-25 leaked online ahead of its official launch. Here are studio photographs of the car and pictures from the launch.
McLaren-Mercedes MP4-25 launch
- McLaren and Ferrari’s 2010 cars side-by-side (Pictures)
- Compare the new McLaren MP4-25 with last year’s car (Pictures)
- McLaren MP4-25 launch as it happened
- Hamilton and Button off to a smiling start but the test is yet to come
McLaren MP4-25 launch pictures
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- McLaren-Mercedes MP4-25 launch
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- McLaren-Mercedes MP4-25 launch
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- Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton
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- Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton reveal the McLaren-Mercedes MP4-25
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- Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton reveal the McLaren-Mercedes MP4-25
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- Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton reveal the McLaren-Mercedes MP4-25
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- Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton with the McLaren-Mercedes MP4-25
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- Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton with the McLaren-Mercedes MP4-25
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- Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton with the McLaren-Mercedes MP4-25
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- Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button
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- McLaren-Mercedes MP4-25 launch
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- McLaren-Mercedes MP4-25 launch
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- McLaren-Mercedes MP4-25 launch
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- McLaren-Mercedes MP4-25 launch
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- McLaren-Mercedes MP4-25
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- McLaren-Mercedes MP4-25
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- McLaren-Mercedes MP4-25
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- McLaren-Mercedes MP4-25
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- McLaren-Mercedes MP4-25
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- McLaren-Mercedes MP4-25
Images (C) www.mclaren.com
I think it will blow ferrari away
No it won’t. It’ll annihilate them
Here we go….
K, please don’t get upset about people ridicularizing Ferrari here. I’ve given up a while ago (back when mp4-19b was here), and my quality of life improved =P
No matter what you say, they won’t listen, anyway, and Ferrari is the devil while McLaren is the Almighty God, even when Ferrari is advocating changes that would favour McLaren too…
I’m sure there’s gonna be a lot of Mercedes and Schuey bashing as well… especially if they do well
I’m not upset, I just find it funny that people are so quick to say these things.
Ferrari is probably my favourite team but I’m not a hardcore Tifosi, I don’t really mind if they loose.
Hey i am totally agree with u. They called Ferrari a cheat but they forget that it is Mclaren who stole the Ferrari’s design, did chetting in races (hamilton let passes Trulli) even have some penalti for cheating and fined 100 million.
Ferrari’s design is working very well and its is a very strong car
It looks like an RB5/Brawn Hybrid.
The Brawn sidepods, Redbull nose and
engine cover, and Ferrari’s rear wing!
They should have tried to continue to evolve their own car instead of copying others.
I think they got it wrong anyway, it looks too
heavy in the mid-section.
Nothing at all like the brawn side pods. They are square for christs sake!! I cant see how this is a copy of anything tbh. Mclaren should have asked you….they spent all the time and money and you could have told them it is wrong by just looking at a few pictures!
Stig, I have to admit that ice car you made beats all competition mate.
Really marvelous engine cover design. Reminded my of the 89,90,91 Mclaren engine covers.
Could you post a link to the pic? The forum’s dead at the moment.
And I bet you could have even made this complex Shark fin!
Sorry Mate, I didn’t mean to get under your skin, I was just trying to prove a point to the previous posters by repeating some of the ridiculous comments made about a red car yesterday. Of course those comments weren’t ridiculous though they were the truth, and
mine are ridiculous.
It looks craptastic!
It would win the award of ugliest car I have seen in a while….
Oh yeah
I think that McLaren has launched a dummy car with the fin covering the engine, so that Ferrari says “my gosh, this is what we have not thought about” and they start working on their version of it.
When Ferrari gets to Bahrain they will find that their car is 1 second a lap slower because of the fin. This is something that McLaren already knew this past month of October, after computer simulations.
McLaren will unveil a new aero package in Bahrain, with a conventional engine cover among other things, and be really fast.
Ron has sharpened his wit after years of dealing with Bernie and Max.
By the time Ferrari finds out about the trick, it will be June
Actually at one point Hamilton said they don’t always present the same chassis at the launch they take to test – but on this occasion they did. The same car that was on the stage yesterday will be pounding around Valencia on Monday.
that comment just about sums up the views on this site. I doubt any of you have even been to a race let alone seen a n F1 car in the flesh.
‘Ron’, my friend, has nothing to do with F1 and hasn’t for the past two years.
All we need to do now is keep our ridicules comments to ourselves and watch the red cars win the championship again.
Remember, It is better to remain quiet and be thought of as a fool that to open your mouths and have it confirmed
So you must be some kind of pro then Rog. Well done!
Funny how the shark fin bisects Voda Fone on the rear wing. They could have done a better job of the front nosecone section.
Thanx for the pics Keith.
Huh, could you clarify that statement.
From below the front wing it looks much less agressive then it does from the top.
So radical top nose, tried and tested undernose? What would you have them do?
If that fin is attached to the wing like i think it is it’s going to significantly reduce the amount of airflow over the wing.
What an incredible looking car. If it goes as well as it looks it will be unbeatable!
Great looking car!!!
Have you noticed the inner wheel fairing with brake duct an winglet, is this on any other car?
Last year that started cropping up all over the place. The brake ducts have become a fully aerodynamically active area under the new regulations
but the way it overlaps the inner sidewall hasn`t been seen before?, I stand to be corrected
This will create a massive low pressure diff between the out an inside of the wheel, the duct is there just to transport the air travelling in away
me thinks restarts an safety car could be fatel for them brakes
Doh, Air travelling out away!
And the no photos rear end
haha
love the description on the triple/quadruple decker diffuser covering 
Its been speculated that quadruple diffuser and maybe even triples don’t work as well as doubles, the concept doesn’t follow as well there. Can’t wait for the damn things to be banned.
I noticed that too… Looks interesting doesn’t it?
the rear fin is more like a tadpole tail and less like a drywall partion between airflows
Hey Keith, any comparo pics bet’n this, the ferrari and the mclaren 09 ???would help .. thanks.
do you guys think ferrari is sandbagging by saying they working on b version or you guys seriously think they have crap coming to them? is 2009 the downfall for ferrari for years to come. the turning point?
I don’t think they were sandbagging. Every one last year were banging about McLaren doing the same, but see what they turned out to be, a pig I would say.
I think ferrari are well past their glory days.
Welcome back the dark years of 1979-2000.
If Ferrari built a b-spec, wouldn’t that be circumventing the resource restriction agreement? Surely it would?!
Would they shake it down at a Friday practice like Minardi did, or Campos plan to (allegedly). No is the answer. Not going to update it at all during the season, are you? Yeah right.
In my mind, if Ferrari build a b-spec in this “era”, they’re betraying FOTA’s agreement on resources, and the saddest part is that it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if they did. They tend to play buddies for as long as it suits them before heading to the piggy bank, (or Ross’ old drinking buddy, for example) in my opinion. The minute they’re in deep doodoo, they jump ship to protect the brand. That’s what they do, and stuff the rest, though they’re certainly not Robinson Crusoe in that department – making this comment relevant to the thread, if you catch my drift.
Frankly, I don’t like the look of this McLaren (much less than the Ferrari, in fact). I’ll even make a statement of opinion (and only opinion) – it actually looks slow….
It looks like the hungry beast.
Far better than ferrari.
What’s abt diffuser?
That really is a breathtaking car
Holy Moses ! spectacular — the best looking Mclaren ever.
The unique vision of Ron taken forward as a sleek elegant spaceship.
Even though MP4-25 looks good, but Ferrari’s 2010 is stunning.
[Apologies to all UK fans who are supporting all U.K based team- McLaren]
I agree the Ferrari is better, the white wings make it.
I agree the Ferrari is better, the white wings make it so. That said the #mp4/24 looks smart.
Guys..this is indeed a glaring radical design – a ‘change’ phenomenon!
In my own candid opinion, the designers had one thing in mind right from the drawing board – FLY…baby FLY!!!
the title is ours baby
Beautiful cars never won any titles… Williams’ current form is a proof of that
Do you work for Williams? This is one beautiful and as martin brundle says: A beautiful car is normally a fast one.
It think you’ve got it the wrong way round – a fast car is, by definition, beautiful.
Brawn was rank.
Actually the car looked ok, the colour scheme was naff though
Interesting to see that the diffuser has been covered up on the Mclaren.
yeah cause they haven’t developed it yet. still just a blank. He He. jokes
It will be a Fish Tail lol.
It looks spectacular!
Have they lengthened the wheelbase compared to the 09 car.
Yes, all the cars will have longer wheelbases this year to accomodate the larger fuel tanks.
YEs, good to see his old helmet livery coming out again!
Button’s gone back to his Union Flag helmet colours:
http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/photolarge.php?photoID=144162&catID=4673
Excellent. Looks smart.
Agreed.
Could you do a side by side comparison of the 2009 MclAren and the new one and also a comparison between the 2010 Mclaren and 2010 Ferrari as they seem so different.
Thanks
I’m surprised they have managed to sculpt the sidepods so much, I expected them to be a lot bulkier.
Where’s the Santander logos? Interesting
Keep up, mate…!
They are still being sponsored by them as it’s on their overalls, didn’t know they weren’t putting the logos on the car anymore.
I think the Santander logos ended up on the Ferrari.
The front nosecone sides are similar to the renault last year but they’ve hidden the horrif looking bits with cunning colouring…
Well spotted I didn’t notice that
THOSE EXHAUSTS WILL HEAT THE TYRES UP A TREAT ON THE WARM UP LAP!! SUPER STARTS HERE WE COOOOME!!!
;-):-);-):-)
190mph airflow should keep them cool, but safety car will be demanding on this car.
Stupid shark fins. Hated those ever since the first teams used them.
Looks like the shark fins join onto the elements of the rear wing here if you look closely.Quite curious as to how that would work tbh.
RB5 was just like it for the whole 2009 season…
I’ve never been a big fan of the shark fin, but i have to admit that McLaren got it right. This is a beautiful car.
Was glad to see Jenson almost clean shaved, Formula One is no place for beards, it looks so unprofesional.
It’s McLaren policy to be clean shaven… that’s why DC went all stubbly when he went to Red Bull.
I remember J Vill with a beard, it just aint right lol
I think quite opposite – corporate culture is ruining Formula 1. F1 needs more charachters like James Hunt, not the perfect manequins for corporations.
And while we are at beards I don’t think Heidfeld has shaven since he left Williams
I found the whole event extremely embarrassing. The questions to the drivers were good but Button and Hamilton kept looking at each other wondering if they were allowed to answer them. Cringe worthy.
I don’t like the car either I think the Ferrari is much nicer but I do hope the car is fast as I want Lewis to do well.
I think Ferrari will struggle on the airflow over the monocoque(?).Long nose turbulence over said nose
The car doesnt look as organic as the Mclaren….. The Mclaren looks like a…..Fish….. the Ferrari looks like…… a brick……. but they describe the Shuttle as the flying brick… it works but its not pretty.
This is the ugggliest McLaren ever.
Strange aero just underneath the nose going on there. Is it an air intake?
Looks like an extra central element splits the air flow, probably directing it to the side pods. That’s a clever idea and something the Ferrari doesn’t have. This appears to be a much more radical design all round.
I remember last year when everyone was saying the 09 car looked beautiful … until they put it on a track lol…
Beauty does not make speed. Good engineering does.
First impressions are that it would great if it wasn’t for the shark fin/anvil engine cover.
Nice looking car.
Is this a Lewis Hamilton design? Has Mclaren released the tally of how many points of downforce Lewis found on this car?
McLaren always looks stunning on launches while the surroundings around it are bright. On track it looks a lot darker boring gray.
It would have looked fine it if wasn’t for the barn door they attached to the engine cover. I wonder how will it perform in the crosswind.
Jenson has reverted back to his original colour scheme for his helmet, no sign of the Monster Energy drink logo.
http://www.autosport.com/gallery/photo.php/id/1324303
No RB5 nose? That’s a first.
Maybe it’s there a little, but it’s hard to tell.
how can you say that when only 2 cars have been launched?!
Was Norbert Haug present at the launch?
Loosing his voice apparently.
May have been a diplomatic illness but his voice was going at the Mercedes launch.
He’s actually a very very distant relative of mine
But I’ve never gotten a chance to meet up.
Whitmarsh was there at Stuttgart, wasn’t he? Such a nice gesture from Martin.
Shame that the Mercedes personnel have completely ignored the unveiling.
After all McLaren still caries their LOGOS.
Irony here is that the Mercedes-Benz logos on the McLaren, both on the nose & the engine covering is far far better advertised than the ones on the original Silver Arrows, which get obscured by the hideous black
Wow! This design simply screams “aggressive”. Still Red Bull and Mercedes to come, but barring any surprises from other quarters, if RBR and Merc come out with stuff more similar to Ferrari’s, this gamble might just pay off for McLaren massively.
And I hate to sound like a Ferrari-basher (you guys sure can get touchy when someone criticises the Scuderia), but it looks like McLaren have been a lot more innovative with their design.
Don’t tip toe around the tifosi they can handle themselves.
I think your right though, if rumours are to be belived from the italian press about trouble in manerello, an B spec models etc, then Macca might just be in for a very good year.
Still I Mercedes and Redbull are definately a threat, but if you ask me, engine trouble at Renault and a lack of continuity at Merc may fall into McLarens hands all the more.
who else has noticed the weird scoop/splitter under the front nose? From the frontal picture it looks silver and like a scoop but the other pictures seem to show it like a black splitter. any ideas?
Also the front wing is extremely similar to the one Hamilton tested in practice at Valencia (i think it was?. He managed to damage an end piece going wide into the wall though i think and didn’t run it in the race…
To me the main difference between Ferrari & McLaren is the engine cover apart from the aerodynamics.
Engine cover is a part of the aero package dear Wasi.
Don’t really like the looks. The fin, nose, front wing, etc all look wrong. Can’t give any specifics but overall I like the ferrari better.
I do hope it will be on pace, I’m all for having numerous cars with a chance of victory.
so are all the cars going to have a blank diffuser until testing? the pics i saw on bbc showed ferrari had a blank diffuser as well. the 2010 cars look obese compared to the 09’s. the front wings seem to be the only place the designers can go aero crazy! lol. in 08 it was the whole car…in 09/10 its just the front wing lol. almost feel sorry for them lol
Sweet Silver Go Brits
I would like to know how many of you Ferrari fans out there honestly believe that the mp4-25 is the prettier of the two cars.
You could show the average Ferrari fan a picture of a naked Kelly Brook and they’d still claim the Ferrari looks better.
I’ve been looking at the front nose even closer and i’m really surprised nobody else has noticed this!?
Take a look at the underneath of the nose. There is a splitter/scoop. These three pictures demonstrate it well, the 3rd picture showing the engineers hands inside it:
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/mp4_25.jpg
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/mp4-25_studio-3.jpg
and
http://www.mclaren.com/photographic/plogger/thumbs/lrg-5000-img_3006.jpg
This is an extract from the MP4-25 tech spec off the McLaren website “Bodywork – Carbonfibre composite. Separate engine cover, sidepods and floor. Structural nose with intergral front wing. ” Note ‘Structural nose with INTERGRAL front wing’. Granted that could be just describing that the front wing is integral with the nose, but technically it is detachable and bolted together, so i think that is hinting towards the integral wing underneath the nose shown in the pictures.
Quite an interesting feature, very similar i think to the old central ’spoon scoops’ of the pre 2009 regs front wings. Circumventing the regulation that limits the central 500mm section of the wing between the lowest plane and a set distance above it to be an aerodynamically neutral shape pre-determined by the FIA.
Another feature of it is that it aims airflow towards the sidepods, considering the intakes are unusually small, it could help force feed air into the ducts.
Two other points on this, it adds a structural cross support between the two wing supports, effectively making the front wing stiffer and less likely to swing and move like the RB5 experienced last season. And also it makes the air flowing underneath it expand into a large space under the nose as it tapers upwards after the scoop, creating a low pressure sucking the car down, which Renault spoke off as a reason for their choice of a low nose in 2009.
So all in all, more downforce, more cooling and more structural support.
I made a reply about that about 2pm – it’s a fascinating addition!
I think you could just about get away with calling that innovative no?
Still I don’t know why they’ve announced it like this. Sureley the other teams will have noticed and will be designing they’re own as we speak.
Dan, I think noone mentioned it because it’s the williams f31 snow plow splitter under the nose.
Yea I’ve just looked into that. Still it’s definetely bigger and considering it’s been built as an integral part of the design (I’d have thought so anyway) then it should work effectively. On the whole though the design of the car is very developed and intricate.
I must’ve missed Neil’s reply earlier, but I think this is a really interesting feature on the car. We’ve got the vertical black elements either side of the nose, the splitter that Dan mentions, and what looks like the mandatory camera mountings very low to the ground (correct me if I’m wrong). That whole area looks very highly developed.
Plus the air intakes for the brakes which overlap across the inside of the wheels. Very intricate design work.
Yup – it’s effectively a more developed version of the Williams’ snow plough. Sitting at that height it is above the bargeboard exclusion zone. It has two functions – create low pressure below the nose and divert air to the sidepods.
You’ve got to be quite careful about what you do under the nose because that is the easiest way to trash the airflow to the floor.
The Santander stickers are gone i thought they extended their Partnership with Mclaren Despite signing a 5 year deal with Ferrari
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/mp4_25_5.jpg
they now sponser only the drivers, hence the santander log’s all over their chests.
I’ve just noticed something. The back wing doesn’t have a sponser, surley thats one of the most veiwed areas in f1, sometimes one of the most iconic.
Sureley they’ll find someone willing to print a name for cash on what is likely to be a race winning rearwing.
It looks like last year’s Renault.
Well put!
Oh, sex on wheels!!! What a beautiful car. I wish mine looked like that. I know no boot or cd/radio but WOW!!!!!
The most radical design car since the Williams of 2004!
i’m glad it’s got #1 on it.