McLaren boss Ron Dennis today told reporters at the launch of the new MP4/23 that he was focused on the future and not looking back. No surprise given that in 2007 the team were stripped of all their team points, effectively finishing last, were fined a record 100 million dollars and lost the driver’s championship by a point in the final race. Ron definitely has a knack for understatement.

Still, today’s launch in Stuttgart was all smiles. Lewis Hamilton, who today celebrated his 23rd birthday, was brimming with excitement as was Renault refugee Heikki Kovalainen. Its an ideal pairing for Ron Dennis as its expected Hamilton will only face moderate pressure from the Finn. Everyone will have learned how destructive two bulls in the same pasture can be from last year’s Hamilton/Alonso partnership.

Still, its hard not to root for Heikki and hope he gives Hamilton a bit to think about. Like Hamilton last year, there is little pressure and an established benchmark to compete against. Will he be the Berger to Hamilton’s Senna and easily assume the number 2 position or will he embrace his racer’s instinct and challenge Hamilton? I look forward to it being the latter scenario.

McLaren are a resilient team with massive depth in all their departments. The setbacks of 2007 will likely be overcome but not soon enough to stop a Ferrari juggernaut from steamrolling to the title. Simply, McLaren need to play it too straight with the rules and the FIA this year to take advantage of every opportunity that presents itself.

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Toyota Racing will unveil their 2008 race car live over the internet so fans can catch every moment of the official launch. You can check out all the action via streaming video on the Toyota racing website Thursday January 10th at 10:30 AM German Standard Time.

(http://www.toyota-f1.com/public/en/index_e.html)

Toyota management are launching their contender just as news surfaces that the team have been told they have just two more years to produce some serious results in F1 or else! Nearly a decade after they started and with the biggest budget in F1, the world’s largest automaker has accomplished very little. The serious concern for F1 is whether the ultimatum was directed at the racing team’s management or Toyota’s commitment to continue in F1 at all.

Veteran driver Jarno Trulli and newcomer Timo Glock will campaign for Toyota this season. Some may remember that Timo drove briefly for Jordan (nee Midland; nee Spyker; nee Force India) a few years ago. Timo went on to race in Champ Cars before heading back to Europe for GP2.

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