Button: MP4-28 best car ever made by McLaren
Jenson Button has said McLaren has left absolutely no stone unturned with the new MP4-28, which the Brit hopes will help him and the Woking-based team end Red Bull Racing's run of success.
Button will go into his fourth season with McLaren this year and with fellow countryman Lewis Hamilton having defected to Mercedes, he will effectively assume the role of lead driver.
After a mixed 2012, the 2009 F1 World Champion is hoping for better in F1 2013 and is confident the squad has addressed the problems that left it out of the title fight last season, but still able to claim seven wins, three with JB, including of course the season ending Brazilian Grand Prix.
"We were extremely strong throughout the whole of the 2012 season, but, for one reason or another, we couldn't quite pull it all together to challenge for the championships. That's something we want to address for 2013," Button said at the launch of the MP4-28.
"I've seen just how closely everybody has been working together on this [new] car, and I think we've got the basis for a very strong season.
"We'll be working extremely hard during the pre-season to ensure we go to the first race with bulletproof reliability. Operationally, too, I think we've learned and developed from last year, and that will help us run a much smoother and stronger campaign.
"[I believe] this year's car is the best we've ever made - I know the engineers have left absolutely no stone unturned in wringing every ounce of performance from every available area."
Button will now be the first to drive the MP4-28, with track testing due to commence at Jerez in Spain on Tuesday February 5 next week.
Meanwhile, JB added how impressed he was by the parade of classic McLaren cars that preceded the launch of the MP4-28, and which kicks off a year of 50th anniversary celebrations for the team.
"Today's demonstration of some classic McLarens makes me feel incredibly proud to be a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver. I don't think anybody with a love for motorsport could fail to be moved by sound and fury of the cars we saw here today - they'll always make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, he continued.
"I'm going into my fourth season as a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver and, more than ever, I know and understand the strengths and abilities of this team. This year is really about continuity and consolidation. I cannot wait to get behind the wheel [of the new MP4-28 now] and attempt to carry forward the incredible legacy that lives beneath the skin of every single man and woman who works at McLaren."
