"The ultimate goal of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team is to fight for both the Drivers' and Constructors' World Championships," said McLaren boss at today's launch of the Woking team's 2008 contender, the MP4-23. "We are looking forward to another competitive season as we look to build on the momentum of last year.

"Every single member of the team has worked extremely hard since the end of the 2007 season to get the MP4-23 on track as soon as possible, to ensure we have the maximum amount of testing time available before the cars leave for Australia. We are all extremely pleased to have the opportunity to launch our new car at the Mercedes-Benz museum in Stuttgart underlining the strength of our partnership."

"Development of the MP4-23 began in earnest 10 months ago," revealed Martin Whitmarsh, "and everyone in Woking, Brixworth and Stuttgart has worked very hard during the last few weeks, and particularly over the Christmas period, to make today's presentation here in Stuttgart happen. In addition we have continued to benefit from tremendous support from all of our Technology Partners.

"We are confident, based upon the simulation and analysis which has been an integral part of the development process, that the MP4-23 represents a step forward. Of course we will continue to develop the car from now until the first race in Australia and see whether we have done enough to be at the level where we want to compete this coming season. From today we have 68 working days until the Australian Grand Prix, and everybody within the team is highly motivated to travel to Melbourne with the most competitive package possible."

"Our Museum is a unique place for this event," said Mercedes Motorsport Director, Norbert Haug. "More than 160 Mercedes-Benz cars, amongst them 30 historic racing cars representing more than 100 years of Mercedes-Benz motor sport heritage create a most remarkable environment for the presentation of the new Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP4-23. I am really pleased that we are able to present with this car launch many of our colleagues from the nearby Untertürkheim manufacturing plant a New Years surprise today. The media presence at our compact presentation today was massive, which is an additional motivation for everybody in the team to start the 2008 season with the target to finish one point ahead instead of one point behind the opposition."

"I am confident that, with Heikki and Lewis, we'll have a very strong driver team on the track," added Dr Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Daimler and Head ofMercedes-Benz Cars. "All of us at Daimler are extremely proud of the tremendous track record of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team. They prove once again: You can't be with Daimler or Mercedes-Benz without wanting to belong to the best - that's in the DNA of our company in a way. And that applies also for the motorsport."

To check out our McLaren launch gallery, click here

Note: More pictures to follow.