Zoom Switching from celebrations to the ’09 detail

Engineers from McLaren Mercedes are busily preparing for the 2009 season in Woking, Brixworth and Stuttgart. Meanwhile, the test team has been readying two cars for December outings to Jerez, Spain, and the new Autodromo Internacional do Algarve circuit in Portugal.

Elsewhere, Lewis Hamilton, Heikki Kovalainen, Pedro de la Rosa and Gary Paffett are preparing for an outing of a different kind; limbering up for a five-day pre-season training camp at the Kuortane Sports Institute in western Finland.

The human performance partner of the team, Kourtane has helped train some of the world’s top athletes, including Finland’s Olympic hopefuls, for more than 40 years. The training camp also acts as a useful team-building exercise, with mechanics and engineers joining the drivers for group exercises and tests at the Kuortane campus.

Lewis Hamilton
"Travelling to Finland for our winter training camp is one of the best weeks of the year for me; it feels like you’re miles from anywhere and totally cut off from the outside world. It allows me to focus solely on my training, which is great."

"It’s certainly not an easy week: Finland in the winter is cold and icy and we’re pushed hard for day after day. We spend the first part of the week doing tests to monitor our core strength and flexibility and spend the rest of the time building on specific exercises that will help us once we’re back in the car. "

"After Brazil, it’s good to get a proper rest because it’s the one time of the year when you can relax your training a little. But Finland is when it all starts again in earnest. Brazil already seems a long time ago and I’m now focusing 100 percent on 2009. I had my seat-fitting at MTC earlier this month and while the plan at the moment is to start testing in January, I’m really keen to get going."

"After Finland, I’m looking forward to a couple of big events in the UK. I’ll be attending the Autosport Awards, the Race of Champions and the BBC Sports Personality of the Year event. They’re all fantastic events and they give me a lot of energy because I get to spend time with some of my peers in a relaxed environment and also to meet the British fans, who are always fantastic."

"Before Christmas, I plan to take a holiday and return fresh and positive to kick-start our winter test programme with the MP4-24. I’ve already had a close look at the new car and the engineers have explained the philosophy behind it and just how different things will be next year."