Jenson Button was not purring over "a monster" on Tuesday, but there was a Cheshire Cat-style grin that suggested McLaren are on the right track this year.
It was in 2009 Button stepped out of his Brawn for the first time at the end of its maiden test and declared it to be a beast of a car, and he went on to win the Formula One title that year.
A year ago, at the start of his second season with McLaren, there was the awful realisation the team had made development mistakes.
Primarily they centred around an exhaust they then spent the rest of pre-season trying to correct, allowing rivals Red Bull to steal a march they never relinquished en route to a dominant campaign.
On Tuesday, at the end of the first of 12 days of testing ahead of the season-opening race in Australia on March 18, Button was clearly a far happier man, and no drastic design deviations are required on this occasion either.
The 32-year-old was eighth on the timesheet, 1.860 seconds behind the returning Kimi Raikkonen, but forget times right now because it is all about feel within the car and what can be improved upon before Melbourne.
Asked whether the team had achieved the balance on the car they promised him, Button replied: "Definitely. It's a good starting point.
"What we wheeled out this morning was a great base. I don't know where it's going to end up by the time we get to the first race, but the important thing is the balance feels all right.
"There's obviously work we need to do to improve it, but it feels right, which is good.
"The front wheels are on the front, the rear wheels on the back, it feels like it's going in the right direction, and when you turn right, it goes right. Sometimes that hasn't been the case!
"But there are no niggly areas with the car, which is nice. Quite different to last year.
"So, as I say, it's a good starting point. I'm looking forward to working with it, and I'm happy.
"I'm also in a good position (in the car). I'm really low, which I always like, trying to get as low as possible, the way the car is.
"I'm much lower than last year. I can just about see out. I love that position. I feel well inside the car. I feel I'm part of it.
"So promising times. But we don't know where we stand and we won't do until the first race."
You sensed Button was being diplomatic, not wanting to give away too much for fear of jinxing matters.
However, he further conceded surprise at how much grip the car possessed, a prior weakness, and how stable it was under braking, notably without last season's must-have device, the blown diffuser that for this season has been banned.
McLaren's design with regard to a smoother nose, compared to their rivals who have all so far wheeled out a stepped, platypus-looking style, also appeared to have no effect.
"If you look at what is under our car you would say that is normal for us, a normal direction," said Button.
"Other people have gone for something more unusual in terms of the stepped nose, which wasn't a surprise because we had people at the factory telling me they thought this would happen with a few cars.
"It's just different. Maybe it is better, maybe worse. We don't know yet, and we won't find out until we get into the season. We may never find out."
For Raikkonen, after two years away from the sport in which he was champion in 2007, even Button admitted to being impressed by just how quick he was, regardless of who was doing what.
As for the Finn, his response to being fastest for was typically deadpan as the Lotus driver said: "It could have been a much worse day.
"We had some small issues, but it's a new car, nothing major.
"I didn't have any expectations. We did our own stuff and we ended up in first place. It doesn't really give you anything."
Force India's Paul di Resta completed an impressive 101 laps and was second overall, just 0.102secs behind Raikkonen.
Nico Rosberg was third, albeit in last year's Mercedes that spent the day evaluating the new Pirelli rubber as the team are not rolling out their new car until the second test in Barcelona.
Mark Webber was fourth for Red Bull, that after sitting out the first three hours as a flight into Jerez, that contained the rear-wing assembly, had to be diverted to Seville due to fog.
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