Did McLaren hint new MP4-27 may be illegal?

[John S]

Or is it all a big misunderstanding and storm in a teacup?     
Was the McLaren man joshing with off the wall comments to his journalist contact, never expecting to see it in print? Is it a PR hoax that's gone wrong, or indeed is it correct but should never have been discussed outside the team?  

McLaren has denied that a senior staff member expressed concern the team's newly-launched 2012 car flies close to the limits of the technical regulations.

The staff member made the comments about the new MP4-27 single seater before it was launched by the British team at its Woking headquarters on Wednesday.
The story was only live on the internet for a short time before it was removed. After that, members of the media were contacted by McLaren insisting that the quotes had not been accurate.
(See part of this now deleted Autosport story courtesy of Thef1times.com)
  http://www.gpwizard.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=14785.msg83079#msg83079

The saga caught the attention of the widely circulated German newspaper Bild, which wondered: "(the risk of a) protest? So maybe the car is illegal? "The rivals will now be looking very closely (at the car) at Jerez," wrote correspondent Frank Schneider. He said the MP4-27 has "mysterious lumps" on the side, perhaps to "hide the exhausts".

Spanish sports newspaper Marca's correspondent Marco Canseco, meanwhile, said the new McLaren is "not revolutionary" at first glance, with the disappearance of the L-shaped sidepods of last year even indicating a "backwards step". The exhausts, however - with blown diffusers now banned - were "very well camouflaged" at the launch, "embedded in a strange bulge" at the rear of the engine cover.

Paddocktalk.com, 2nd February.