Dennis: McLaren not quick

However the former team principal, who was replaced by then chief executive Martin Whitmarsh at the start of March, said the team have time to get it up to speed.

"It is certainly not as fast as we would like it to be," Dennis told Reuters. "But it is early days and we've still got quite a bit of testing to do and quite a bit of development to reflect through into our pace."

The first race is in Australia on March 29 and McLaren have only a week remaining before a season-long testing ban comes into force.

McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen was the slowest driver on track in testing at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya on Monday, more than 2.6 seconds behind BMW-Sauber's Nick Heidfeld, and only ninth of 11 on Tuesday.

The Mercedes-powered team had an indifferent few days before that in Jerez, with Briton Hamilton finishing seventh fastest last Wednesday and crashing on Thursday.

Some reports have suggested McLaren are wrestling with excessive rear tyre wear and the new-look rear wing, with the team using last year's version at some tests.

"At this time of the year all our testing is centred around optimising the car for the race," said Dennis.

"But the inevitable publicity that surrounds test performance sees some of the less experienced teams or some of the teams that are seeking money actually running their cars with the objective of doing one fast lap.

"Of course, one fast lap is very important when it comes to qualifying but it is relatively unimportant when it comes to the race. And the disciplined teams are working hard on a sustainable pace."

Dennis said it was too early to predict how the early races will pan out.

"The performance of McLaren and its competitors isn't really going to be known until probably two or three races into the season; even Australia isn't going to be a strong indicator because of course everybody has got gremlins in their car.

"So really it is three or four races before you can really determine who is competitive and who is going to be fighting for the World Championship."

With a raft of new regulations coming into force for 2009, the season is shaping up to be one of the most exciting for some time.