Dennis Expects to Run New McLaren in Mid-January

McLaren-Mercedes team chief Ron Dennis has said that his outfit's new challenger is on target and will be ready to run at the start of next year.

The team boss said that work on McLaren's new car started in July, their new Mercedes-Benz engine will run next month and they will be ready to test next year's car in January.

"I think we are taking a step in the right direction," said Dennis. "David (Coulthard) is not happy about coming second and nor are we in respect of the Constructors' Championship. We started work on our new car in July and in the second week of January we expect to run the new car.

"The new engine will run in a couple of weeks so we are well on target for starting a season with renewed vigour."

After finishing a distant second to Ferrari's World Champion Schumacher this year, Briton Coulthard has called for McLaren to provide a title-challenging car and he would then do his best to deliver the Championship in 2002.