by Russell Atkins
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Gary Paffett is positive McLaren-Mercedes will not be affected by the events of the 2007 season this year, and is convinced the Woking-based outfit will be fully capable of taking on arch-rivals
Ferrari once more in the battle for the crown.
The 26-year-old has been a full-time test-driver for the Anglo-German squad for the past two years, and as such is perfectly placed to comment upon the sheer amount of hard work that goes on inside the team both during the March-October racing campaign and in the supposedly more relaxed ‘off' season that follows. It is, he admits, not much of a rest at all.
“As soon as the season finished we were away testing,” Paffett told
Crash.net Radio, “and already at the first test it was without traction control in preparation for this year. The work for the 2008 season began back at the start of 2007 with the preparation at the factory and the engineers and designers getting to work on the new car.
“It's just constant development; you have to constantly keep pushing your team and your staff very hard to get the best results. The car starts the year nothing like how it will end the year, and the amount of development you get during the season is incredible. The amount of development over the winter when you build a new chassis is just as incredible. If you do sit back and rest on your laurels – which is far too easy to do if you're winning – it's so easy just to go backwards.”
Going backwards is something the former
McLaren Autosport BRDC Award winner and DTM Champion is confident McLaren will not be doing in 2008, particularly given the addition to the team on the driving strength of
Heikki Kovalainen, who greatly impressed during his rookie season with
Renault last year.
