Dennis Not Expecting Quick Turnaround

McLaren-Mercedes boss Ron Dennis on Saturday warned that it could take until the end of the season for his team to return to the performances level that is expected of them.

The Woking team had been expected to challenge Ferrari this season but have they slipped to fifth place in the Championship behind the World Champions as well as rivals Renault, BAR-Honda and Williams.

Finn Kimi Raikkonen has failed to finish all of the three races so far this season while David Coulthard has managed just four points from two top-eight finishes. Dennis warned there will be a long wait for the turn around in fortunes.

"It is difficult to say how long it will take - double figures in races I think," said Dennis. "It will take a while, but we will improve all the time, all the way. If it was easier than that we would have done something about it sooner.

"We are a strong organisation and we will return to competitive form sooner than most people think. You cannot move the parameters overnight, but we will do our best."

The team's performance has frustrated last year's Championship runner-up Kimi Raikkonen, who had expected to be consistently fighting World Champion Michael Schumacher for race wins this season.

Raikkonen's disastrous start to the season continued on Saturday when an engine problem prevented him from going out to set a qualifying time for the San Marino Grand Prix.

He will start form the back of the grid for the second consecutive race while Scot Coulthard could only manage the 11th fastest lap with a time 1.334 seconds off the pace of pole sitter Jenson Button.