Coulthard Confident of Challenging Ferrari

McLaren's David Coulthard is expecting to be able to challenge the dominant Ferrari team in the 2003 season despite starting the year with an updated version of the 2002 car.

The Woking-based outfit finished in third place in last season's Constructors' Championship behind Ferrari and Williams, with Coulthard scoring their only win of the year on his way to fifth place in the drivers' standings.

McLaren will use a revised version of the Mercedes-powered MP4-17 for the first three races of 2003, and despite some initial doubts Scot Coulthard believes the car will allow them to challenge World Champion Michael Schumacher and his Ferrari team.

"There is definitely a feeling in the team that we could challenge Ferrari next season," Coulthard said in an interview with the Sunday Mirror newspaper. "I was a bit nervous when I heard we wouldn't be racing the new car until the fourth race, but the situation now looks very encouraging.

"We've tried one or two new things on this car and we've seen the difference. I tend not to say too much about winter testing but I believe these times are significant. There is a distinct improvement to the package and the indications are that our new car will be another big step forward.

"I can't imagine Ferrari will be able to maintain their rate of improvement next year, so the Championship really could close up. If that is the case then I'll be in as good a position as anybody to take on Michael. I beat him at Monaco last season, on a circuit where he was said to be virtually unstoppable, and I've beaten him on other occasions as well."

Coulthard, however, admitted that McLaren's primary target will be to surpass their Williams rivals as Ferrari's main challengers.

"Our first goal is to take over from Williams as the most likely threat to Ferrari," he added. "We managed to get in front of Williams at the last couple of races and now we've had the chance to try some of the developments that have been in the pipeline and they've proved very positive."