New McLaren expecting January debut.

McLaren has confirmed that the first MP4-21 chassis is expected to hit the track for testing by the middle or end of this month, as the team builds up to the first race of its Formula One title challenge in Bahrain.

McLaren Racing MD Jonathan Neale - the man charged with bringing all strands of the car's development together - has said that the team expects to have pieced together the first complete 2006-spec machine in time for testing in 'mid-to-late' January, having so far run an interim car in pre-Christmas outings.

"The MP4-21 is scheduled to go on track mid-late January but, as always, this is subject to change as we finalise the baseline specification," Neale insisted, "Following the pre-Christmas tests, we are currently planning to test every available week in the run-up to the Bahrain Grand Prix, starting in week two at Jerez."

The first tests will have their own programme as the team makes sure that the car has basic reliability, but subsequent outings will se the MP4-21 fitted with development parts that have been worked on at the team's Woking base for several months.

"Once the new car has been released, our primary focus will be on durability testing, proving the software, the systems and the 11,500 car components, 90 per cent of which have changed from MP4-20," Neale revealed, "Then we will start to look at phasing in upgrade packages onto the car.

"For example, the aerodynamic specification was set in late October or early November and, since then, the aero team has been working on a series of performance upgrades to bring on line. This will take place before the cars leave for the first grand prix in Bahrain and then continue throughout the season.

"On-track testing at this time of year is very important to us. To date, we have been running an interim car, which is the 2005 chassis fitted with a version of the Mercedes-Benz V8 engine. Our key focus has been engine development and cooling systems work, alongside significant tyre evaluation with Michelin, with reference the change back from tyres that run a race distance to tyres that operate for a series of short sprints. The programme is progressing well, but it is early days, and the specification of the chassis and the engine is changing a lot at the moment as we gather more intelligence.

"Looking more specifically at on-track work, the test that began on Tuesday 13 December in Jerez saw a number of suspension items, bodywork and R&D concepts that we were working on with the interim car which are very relevant to the baseline specification for MP4-21. After the Jerez test, work continued apace at the McLaren Technology Centre, with the manufacturing and car assembly teams having just one-and-a-half days off over the Christmas holiday, and we will be back on track next Wednesday [11 January] at Jerez."