• Second Barcelona Test, Day Four

McLaren predicts 'incredibly close' season

ESPN Staff
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Jenson Button completed 122 laps on the final day of testing © Sutton Images
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McLaren sporting director Sam Michael predicts the 2013 season will be "incredible close" after the conclusion of pre-season testing.

Jenson Button finished the final day of testing third quickest but with a best time over 1.3s slower than Mercedes' Nico Rosberg. However, Michael was keen to point out that chasing lap time had not been the aim of McLaren's programme and that the team had accumulated the mileage it had set out to.

"After completing over 5,000 kilometres, through dry and wet conditions, we have collected plenty of data from MP4-28A," Michael said. "A large part of winter testing is taken up with methodically working through many systems checks and verifying that the correlation between design and track is solid - that's more important in modern F1 as track testing opportunities are so limited."

The one conclusion Michael was willing to draw was how tight the field appeared to be based on the results over the three tests.

"A special thank-you to everybody put so much effort into the testing program. We're all really looking forward to the first race in Melbourne in two weeks - from the lap times we've seen the season is going to be incredibly close!"

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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