• McLaren launch new car at Woking base
• Sutil’s comments are given the brush-off

McLaren launched their new Formula One car before a global audience on Wednesday. And the global audience dutifully gawped in wonder, even though the new creation, the MP4-27, motionless and driverless and tilting sharply to the right, looked as if it had just come off the track at Suzuka’s notorious 130R turn.

McLaren’s more significant relaunch at their glitzy Technology Centre in Woking came in the shape of the sport’s most vivid driver, Lewis Hamilton, who looked a revitalised figure after the most difficult season of his career last year, when he was beset by problems on and off the track.

Hamilton, who was beaten by his team-mate, Jenson Button, for the first time in his McLaren career in a season marked by clashes with stewards and other drivers, has spent much of the winter among the mountains of Colorado.

“I feel fresh,” he said. “I had a really good winter. The team gave me a good bit of time off after such a long season, and obviously we went through a lot. I had friends and family there and was able to find out what they thought and how I could improve. I knew where things were wrong and it’s not easy to clarify them in the mind but I was able to do that. There are still things I’m working on.”

Hamilton, 27 last month, added: “There have been lots of highs and lows but last year was definitely one of he toughest years, personally. And also with the racing. I had a low moment when I lost the championship in 2007 but that was just one moment.

“A lot of it is in the mind. And if you’re clogged up with a lot of things and operating at only 60% there’s a loss of time. But I feel as though I’m back to 100% right now. Last year was one of those years where I had a lot of less energy and less focus where it needed to be. But now the focus is where it needs to be.”

Meanwhile, the 2008 champion has put as much clean air as possible between himself and his former close friend Adrian Sutil after the German driver described him as “a coward”. Sutil was upset by Hamilton’s decision not to testify at the former Force India driver’s two-day trial in Munich this week and hit out after being convicted for causing grievous bodily harm to Eric Lux, chief executive of the Lotus team owners, Genii Capital. After being given an 18-month suspended sentence and fined €200,000 (£167,000) Sutil said: “Lewis is a coward. I do not want to be friends with someone like that. He is for me no man. Even his father sent me a text message and wished me luck for the process. Lewis came with nothing. He has changed his phone number. I could not reach him any more.”

But Hamilton, who did offer a statement for use at the trial, refused to get involved when the issue was raised at Woking on Wednesday. Before Hamilton could answer a question relating to Sutil’s remarks a McLaren spokesman said: “We’ve been told Lewis shouldn’t really go there because it might go under appeal, so can we move on to the next question?”

Hamilton nodded in the direction of the spokesman and said: “I’ll listen to him.”

Sport: Motor sport | guardian.co.uk

The former athlete Michael Johnson has been helping the Williams F1 team by looking for ways to speed up their pit stops

When Williams announced that they had signed Michael Johnson to help their Formula One team the first reaction was that the great American athlete would be employed to push their jalopy round the track.

Williams, after all, were the most disappointing of the 12 F1 operations last year. The once dominant team finished ninth, ahead of the three minnows on the circuit. They were the weakest of the midfield outfits, scoring only five points – and four of them came from their departing veteran, Rubens Barrichello.

The car’s tiny gearbox appeared to symbolise the team’s meagre ambition and only three times did one of their cars make it through to Q3 on Saturday afternoon.

However Johnson, four-times winner of Olympic gold and famous for his upright and short-stepping style, has rather been brought in to sharpen up the Williams pit crew.

This may sound about as important as touching up the livery and logos – and Williams certainly have bigger issues to concern them as they work to improve on last year’s desperately disappointing FW33 – but last year Red Bull, followed by Mercedes, were the sharpest operators in the pitlane and, in a sport where fractions are famously vital, this is an area that cannot be ignored.

The problem is that mechanics and engineers are not necessarily renowned for their physical fitness, outside getting down to the Ferret and Firkin for a pint and pie and double chips. Johnson may have his work cut out.

Watch out, then, for the first Williams tyre change in the opening race of the new season, in Melbourne on 18 March; it could be deeply impressive or tummy-slappingly hilarious. But at least the move does win originality points for Williams.

Johnson, who has been following Formula One since 1996 – the year Damon Hill won the world title with Williams – says: “I feel extremely confident in myself and my staff in terms of what we have put together in training methodology and biomechanical efficiency. I don’t think anybody knows it better than us. There is a tremendous amount of biomechanical movement going on in the pit stops so it stands to reason we can make that quicker.”

Johnson, who owns one of Michael Schumacher’s old helmets and was once introduced to a number of drivers by Bernie Ecclestone, the sport’s supremo, warms to his subject at the team’s Oxfordshire headquarters.

“The amount of steps that it is going to take for the guy that has got that tyre and has got to put it on – it makes all the difference in the world which is his lead leg to how many steps he is going to take.

“And the guy with the gun – it jumped out at me immediately that you can do it two different ways. You can take it off the wheel and bring it straight back into your chest or you can take it off and point it upwards to get it out of the way [he looks a little like Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry at this stage]. What has never been done is to evaluate the guy from a sensory stand-point to see how accurate can he be.”

And what does the guy himself think? Ben Howard, who has been with Williams for three years and works on the left front wheel, says: “I think everybody was excited, but possibly a little bit apprehensive as well. Michael is well known and trains top-level sports people but we’re not professional athletes so there was some nervousness as to what he might make us do.

“To be honest not everyone goes to the gym to train because we use our own activities and hobbies outside of work to keep fit. It’s been good, though, really interesting, and obviously a privilege to be working with someone of his calibre.

“At the track you have teams either side of you doing their practice stops so you’re always watching to see if you can learn anything. We’re fighting each other all the time, in a friendly way, but we’re not going to be showing them any of the new secrets we learn from Michael.”

Johnson is already talking about working with Williams again next year. So how long is his deal? “We’ll be going until it gets done,” he says. But something tells you that this particular job may not feature among his world record times.

Sport: Motor sport | guardian.co.uk

Peugeot’s new hybrid 908 is destined to make its only journey straight to the company’s museum, a casualty of the recession

A group of Peugeot Sport engineers and mechanics had barely touched down in the United States on Wednesday, on their way to a test session at the Sebring circuit, when they were given the news that the company was pulling out of this year’s Le Mans 24-hour race and of the inaugural FIA World Endurance Championship as a whole, with immediate effect. So their new car, a hybrid 908 intended to challenge similar vehicles from Audi and Toyota, is destined to make its only journey straight to the company’s museum.

This is a great shame for the technicians and the drivers who were looking forward to a challenging season and hoping to repeat the team’s Le Mans victories of 1992, 1993 and 2009. A disappointment, too, for the hundreds of thousands who make their way to the historic circuit of the Sarthe each June, many of them wanting to support a home team.

But it was always thus in motor racing, and particularly in endurance racing. Le Mans, an event founded in 1923 as a way of showing potential customers that your headlamps, windscreen wipers and canvas hoods could function at high speed around the clock, remains an effective shop window for major motor manufacturers. But those companies are at the whim of the global economic climate and the wishes of investors who may have no interest in the sport, paying attention only to the bottom line of the annual balance sheet.

After the Bentleys had dominated Le Mans in the 1920s, during the first decade of the race, it must have been a disappointment to their fans to see them depart. Ditto the Alfa Romeos and Bugattis that took over in the 1930s. Jaguar’s four wins in the 1950s were followed by a withdrawal, while Mercedes-Benz and Aston Martin had to be content with a single win apiece before bowing out. Ferrari and Ford divided the spoils in the 1960s and were seen no more; the same with Matra in the early 1970s. Porsche took over for the remainder of the decade, their victories continuing throughout the 1980s and sporadically during the 1990s.

Ten wins for Audi’s R8 and R18 models in the past 12 years, interrupted by single victories for a car in Bentley’s colours (itself based on the Audi) and for Peugeot’s diesel-engined 908, represent the sort of hegemony that can intimidate rivals. There will always be the suspicion that the Peugeot board’s decision might have been different had their team followed up that last success two years ago, but they seem to have folded their tents not through the fear of enduring an invidious comparison between their hybrid technology and that of their German and Japanese rivals but because of a worldwide recession that calls into question the spending of many tens of millions of euros on a nonessential activity.

So the Peugeot 908 has gone the way of the supercharged Bentley, the Alfa 8C, the Bugatti Type 57 “Tank”, the Mercedes 300SLR, the Jaguar D-Type and XJR, the Aston DBR1, the original Ferrari Testa Rossa, the Ford GT40, the Porsche 917 and 956, the Matra MS670, the Sauber C9, the Mazda 787 and the Williams-designed BMW V12 LMR. Not a bad museum to be in. And Le Mans, of course, will carry on as it always has, not just a monument to its own tradition but a proving ground for worthwhile new technologies.

Sport: Motor sport | guardian.co.uk

• Former Jordan technical director joins as analyst
• Changes forced after several members joined Sky

The BBC has unveiled a new-look Formula One presenting team for the 2012 season following the series of defections to Sky Sports.

The former Jordan technical director Gary Anderson joins as a technical analyst; Ben Edwards joins as a commentator, having previously worked for Eurosport; James Allen will become the lead commentator for Radio 5 live, and Jennie Gow is the pitlane reporter.

Jake Humphrey remains in place as the anchor, along with the chief analyst Eddie Jordan and co-commentator David Coulthard.

The changes were forced after several of last season’s line-up were poached by Sky to front its coverage, including Martin Brundle and David Croft.

The BBC’s head of Formula One, Ben Gallop, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Ben, James, Gary and Jennie to the BBC presentation team. They bring with them a wealth of experience and knowledge, and huge passion for the sport which will help bring the season to life for our audiences on TV, radio and online.”

Sport: Motor sport | guardian.co.uk

• Lifeline for Buemi after being discarded by Toro Rosso
• Swiss driver appointed test and reserve driver at Red Bull

Red Bull Racing have thrown a Formula One lifeline to Switzerland’s Sébastien Buemi by appointing him as their test and reserve driver after he was discarded as a race driver by their sister team Toro Rosso.

The 23-year-old will attend grands prix as back-up for the double world champion Sebastian Vettel and the Australian Mark Webber and will also be available to Toro Rosso should they need a stand-in.

“It’s good to remain with Red Bull for another year and have this opportunity with the World Championship winning team,” Buemi said.

“I would prefer to be driving at the races, of course, but working with Red Bull Racing on the development of their car and providing them with feedback throughout the season is the next best thing.”

Buemi has been backed by Red Bull since 2004 and made his race debut in 2009 with the Italian-based Toro Rosso, who will have an all-new line-up next year.

The Red Bull team boss, Christian Horner, said: “He already knows the team well from his time with us in 2008 and has gained significant race experience over the past three years..

“He will complete important test and simulation work for us throughout the year and will be in attendance at each grand prix.”

Sport: Motor sport | guardian.co.uk