As the final day of winter testing finished in Barcelona yesterday, Lewis Hamilton was delighted with Vodafone McLaren Mercedes’ preparations for the new season.

"Winter testing has gone really smoothly. We have had steady reliability and the car is feeling good," the star said.

This season drivers must operate without traction control but Hamilton does not feel it will be a problem for him.

"I drove without traction control for many years, so it is what I am used to - there is nothing new," he said.

Heikki Kovalainen, the team’s new driver, was also pleased with the pre-season preparations and told McLaren.com that everything was "very positive; there haven’t been any negative moments".

Hamilton and Kovalainen have covered a total of 492 laps during the final test - a total of 2,290 kilometres.

Chief operating officer Martin Whitmarsh was also pleased with the pre-season period.

"The pace of work on the test track and back at base in Woking, Brixworth and Stuttgart has been outstanding, and it will continue at this rate building up to and during the season," he said.

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