Fantastic to get my hands on the MP4-23 - Hamilton

At 9.10 this morning Lewis Hamilton got his 2008 season preparations well underway when he took to the track in Jerez behind the wheel of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP4-23. The youngster enjoyed his first outing in the new car.

Lewis Hamilton: "It was fantastic to get my hands on the MP4-23 this morning in Jerez. I saw the completed car for the first time on Monday at the team's launch in Stuttgart and I have been pretty impatient since then! My first run was at 09:10 and my first impressions are good. You can't really read all that much into a car after so few laps, but the feeling is positive. Up to 13:00 UK time, I had covered 34 laps and my fastest time was a 1m19.132."

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