The new car bears little resemblance to its world championship-winning predecessor due to the introduction of new rules that have radically reshaped Formula 1.
Seen here pulling the cover off the new beast that Lewis will drive to try to capture his second chanpionship in 2009, is the new MP4-24 Vodafone McLaren Mercedes machine. It carries heavily revised bodywork, re-sculpted front and rear wings, slick tyres and a kinetic energy recovery system (KERS), the MP4-24 has been in development since September 2007 in order to successfully accommodate the huge changes that have been made to the technical regulations.
A full team shot by the new car, where test driver Pedro de la Rosa will conduct the first two days before the race drivers take over. Testing has always been fun to watch if you had to chance to - not only do they beat the crap out of the car, they also do everything and anything possible to damage the cars performance so that they can further tweak the quality that will go into the races.
Seen here is Ron Dennis who has now taken a back seat but will continue as an advisor to the team. I think it's about time the man chilled out but F1 will not be the same without him and especially McLaren, will feel the difference.
The No:1 resembles that this car is being driven by the World Champion from the previous year. Directly above it, resembles the worlds No:1 scotch whisky brand - he!he! had to drop some compliment.
I'm really excited about the upcoming Formula One season. Lewis is definitely under tremendous pressure to perform and with Ferrari stepping up their game, Lewis and McLaren cannot afford to take any risks in terms of team management and on-track performance. I guess it's about staying ahead rather than taking a huge leap.
The new MP4-24 looks very different with the tail wing looking alot sleeker than the previous version.
The line-up of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team. If you ask me, I think Heikki has great potential and if he isn't the 2nd driver and has the option to prove himself, he might just beat Lewis on-track.
The classic team walk.
And of course the usual "take a picture with the Vodafone" phone! Why not drink a whisky while you're at it!
The ever so con-fusing steering. If this was in my car, I would be crashing all over the place.
The element that makes the difference in the car.
And being proud sponsors of the team, Johnnie Walker globally and regionally and locally have executed some world class campaigns leveraging on the sponsorship.
Malaysia will not be left out of course so watch out in the coming months people - coz Johnnie Walker is gonna blow your mind!
Johnnie Walker has embarked on a world-class "Never Drink and Drive" campaign called "Join The Pact" with Lewis Hamilton and Mika Hakkinen. There's a cool video of Lewis, Mika and Heikki running around a filming studio trying to get the most number of signatures from people who take the pledge to never drink and drive and it spins around to be a comedy stunt and gets the point across rather cleverly. (Watch the video below)
Essentially what this campaign aims to achieve is to increase the education level of responsible drinking amongst consumers around the world. It doesn't matter which brand you consumer, Johnnie Walker unselfishly just wants you to be aware that being responsible is important.
Alot of fantastic executions have been done around the world in over 20 countries. Johnnie Walker and Mika have done some fantastic road shows to showcase the importance of being control when you're behind the wheel. As part as the CSR program under Diageo's roof, Johnnie Walker has spent millions and millions of dollars backing this campaign and with it's simple and direct message - NEVER DRINK AND DRIVE, consumers around the world are urged to be responsible when drinking (Watch the video below)