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Mac Attack

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The new McLaren is out... and boy does that look a bit..er..radical.

What's with the shark-fin bit? Does that really join up with the rear wing? is that even legal?! Still, it's a striking-looking piece of kit, and handily has pretty much the same colour scheme as last year, so I should at least be able to recognise 2 teams, if not their drivers.

Hey - that must mean it's time for another Grumpy F1 entirely-free-from-bias-or-curmudgeonly-opinion pre-season preview!

McLaren had a startlingly crap start to last season. With Hamilton as World Champ, they managed to kick off 2009 with a startlingly rubbish car and a big fat scandal when Lewis "forgot" that he'd overtaken a Toyota during a safety car period. I can still visualise Ron Dennis sitting at home, slapping himself repeatedly on the forehead. Impressively, the team did manage an amazing improvement during the season, allowing Lewis to win a couple of races. Let's face it - they're a bloody good team, and if their car starts this year as well as it finished last year, they must be in with a chance of the title. They even got rid of Crikey Heikki and replaced him with Button, handily bringing the number 1 to their team. I'm sure Hamilton will be OK with number 2 (in case you didn't spot it, that was sarcasm). Mercedes starting up their own squad must have stung a bit though...

Hamilton is quite possibly the driver of his generation. He's already won a title, and the world and his wife and their dog and the next-door neighbour all expect him to do so again. He does wobble a bit under pressure... does having the current World Champ as his team mate count, d'you think? He was certainly Team Leader last season and we all know what happened when that Spanish chap with the eyebrows was his team "mate".

Button had a remarkable 2009. Zero to Hero, but can he repeat that? Is he really that good, or was he just flattered by a great car last year? Very brave move to put himself up against Hamilton and it should be interesting to see how he fares. I think Hamilton will have the edge, but I'd love to be proved wrong.

Hang on... this is starting to sound like a serious journalistic preview. Ahm... did you notice how short Hamilton looked next to Button? Jenson's got a head start already.

(Giving my ears some smooth right now - Robert Palmer's "Witchcraft".)
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