Lowe: “It was the worst winter for McLaren in 20 years”

The period between February and March was “the worst I have experienced in 20 years at McLaren,” said Paddy Lowe, the team's technical director.
Lowe is referring to the Woking team's winter testing season, in which the 2011 single-seater proved not only slow but also decidedly unreliable, while the technicians insisted on an exhaust system so complex that it was renamed the "octopus" in English).
With Hamilton's victory in Shanghai, he was now able to confess that the 2009 season had also started really badly.
“But this year it was even worse, because in 2009 the problem was only speed. In the last tests in Barcelona the new components did not work and the car proved to be unreliable.”
On Martin Whitmarsh's orders, McLaren put aside the "octopus" exhausts to move towards the solution chosen by Red Bull.
“After the first session in Melbourne I felt relieved,” says Lowe.
And two races later, Lewis Hamilton won the first GP of the season, beating Sebastian Vettel.
“This car… you have no idea how bad it was… we remained calm, but we were really worried,” commented Hamilton.

Filippo Ronchetti