SPORTS

Button calls for more consistency as McLaren launches new F1 car

The Associated Press Published Thursday, January 31, 2013 10:41AM EST

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes F1 drivers Jenson Button, left, and Checo Perez, right, pose for the photographers with the newly unveiled MP4-28 car, during a photo-op prior to the launch, at McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, England, Thursday, Jan. 31, 2013. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

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WOKING, England -- Jenson Button has called for more consistency from McLaren as it launched its Formula One car for the season on Thursday.

The team, which finished third in the constructors' championship, is in the midst of a major transformation. Lewis Hamilton left for Mercedes and has been replaced by 23-year-old Sergio Perez, who scored three podium finishes for Sauber last season.

McLaren won seven races in 2012 including the season-opener in Australia and the last two races of the season. But in between, Hamilton and Button suffered mechanical breakdowns that cost them podium finishes.

Team principal Martin Whitmarsh wouldn't predict where the team might finish in 2013 but said "we go racing to win," and predicted the team would succeed with Button's experience and the "very quick" Perez.