Tester Pedro de la Rosa was at the wheel of McLaren's 2009 challenger in Portugal on Saturday as the MP4-24 was given its first-ever run, following its Friday launch. Despite a delayed start to the day, De la Rosa covered 18 laps of the Portimao circuit and set a best time of 1m 28.719s.
"It's always an exciting moment when you get behind the wheel of a brand new car for the first time - and, given the extent of the rule changes we've addressed over the winter, it was more tense than usual,













