Grapevine: Monteiro: no Midland/McLaren issues

While some Formula One commentators and fans still find themselves having a double-take when it comes to telling the difference between a silver and orange McLaren and a grey and orange Midland, the men in the cockpits are finding the similarities less of a problem

One theory put around after the European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring last weekend was that Kimi Raikkonen's chances of beating Felipe Massa to third place had been hurt by the time he lost lapping Tiago Monteiro's Midland in the middle of the race.

The suggestion was that Monteiro may have got confused about who was behind him at the time, especially because he spent much of the race fighting with teammate Christijan Albers.

In fact, a quick analysis of the lap times indicated that while Massa lost time on just one lap getting clear of Monteiro, Raikkonen was stuck behind the Portuguese driver for three laps. Those seconds could have made all the difference at the final pitstop.

But Monteiro himself has played down talk of any confusion over the difference between a Midland and a McLaren on track - even when looking through mirrors at 180mph.

"You do definitely tell the difference," he told autosport.com. "You can see in the mirrors quite well. First of all the team lets you know who in the radio is coming, and if I know it is Kimi or (Juan Pablo) Montoya then I pay even more attention because I know the cars look a bit similar.

"But when you look in the mirrors what you see from the McLaren is a brilliant bright front wing - and that is all you can see. With our cars you see more of the rest of the car, so when you see a lot of bright orange then you know it is a McLaren.

"I don't think we get confused on that. If Kimi's times did drop a little bit last weekend (in the race) then it was probably normal because every time you lap someone you lose a little bit anyway. I don't think there is a problem there."