Analysis: McLaren Win Would Expose a Naked Truth

Ron Dennis is looking forward to seeing at least one of his critics exposed by the turnaround in McLaren's fortunes.

The esteemed British newspaper journalist who promised to strip off and run naked around Silverstone should the Formula One team win a race this season can expect no pity from the boss.

"I am holding him to it," Dennis said on Sunday after McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen finished second to Ferrari's Michael Schumacher at the British Grand Prix. "I don't think we are that far away.

"We've got more things in the pipeline," he added. "We beat Rubens Barrichello fair and square. He's been on the pace in many races so we have a chance of beating Ferrari this year."

McLaren have not won a Grand Prix since March last year and the odds on them doing so a month or two ago would have been comparable to backing Greece to win the European soccer championship.

Greece emerged as champions and even those who still expect a Ferrari 'red-wash' must concede that McLaren now have a definite chance. Hungary, a slow and twisty circuit where overtaking is difficult and raw horsepower counts for less, must surely be an opportunity in August.

Turning Point

The turning point was France, the weekend before Silverstone, when the Mercedes-powered team introduced a heavily revised car and saw Coulthard qualify third. That race brought a double points haul, with Coulthard sixth and Raikkonen seventh, before Raikkonen started on pole position in Britain.

Even if Schumacher's 10th win in 11 races meant neither McLaren driver now has even a mathematical chance of the Championship, the mood in the motorhome was the most buoyant it had been for months. McLaren, it was generally agreed, were back.

"I think it was a very positive weekend, Kimi's pole was a great qualifying performance," said Coulthard. "The end result of course is that you want to be standing in the middle part of the podium so there's still a bit of work to be done.

"But when you consider where we were earlier this year, we've taken definitely the biggest step forward of any team. It was pretty good to see (Kimi) pulling away so we can expect there's going to be other races this year where we are leading."

This season has been McLaren's worst for 23 years, the former champions becoming the butt of jokes after repeated race day failures sank them to sixth place.

One low point was Bahrain, when Raikkonen kept his foot on the gas after his engine blew. The sheet of flame belching out of the rear of his car left little doubt about the nature of the problem.

Another was the Nurburgring, with Raikkonen clutching his helmet in despair as a familiar cloud of smoke billowed out of the back while Coulthard drove straight off the track and through a gate to a waiting recovery truck.

Soul-Destroying

"The beginning of the year was pretty soul-destroying for everyone involved in the team because we knew we had some problems going into the season but it wasn't until we got to Melbourne that the reality of the position really was clear," said Coulthard.

"So that was a big shock and it got worse thereafter because we had reliability problems. But we've worked hard and the guys did a great job back at the factory, Mercedes have come up with more horsepower so more can be done on the car and the engine," added the Scot.

"And from a driver's point of view we are still discovering this car.

"We have a performance step on the engine when we go to Hockenheim and that should take us forward a little bit. If we can pick a really good tyre for those conditions then we can be stepping back onto the podium again."

Any competition to Ferrari will be welcomed, even if one man will be keeping his fingers crossed in the press room.

"I'd enjoy watching that," grinned McLaren technical director Adrian Newey, hurriedly correcting himself as he realised what he was saying. "Well, I don't know if I'd enjoy watching it ... but I'd enjoy hearing about it."