Kimi Raikkonen

It says a lot for the current state of McLaren that the team seemed pretty happy just to get both cars to the finish in Canada, albeit in only seventh and ninth places. The subsequent round of disqualifications changed that to fifth and sixth, which looked quite respectable on paper. Indeed the results nearly triples the team's overall points total from four to 11...

This was the team's first score since Kimi Raikkonen had his only previous finish of the year at Imola, which was itself a humble eighth place. After the race in Canada Kimi was pretty happy, smiling at the irony of making it home in what was then just a seventh after an incredible five pit stops, two of which were not planned.

The first extra one was the result of a drive through penalty awarded after he clipped the white line at the pit exit, and the second after he required a new steering wheel. That dropped him behind the Sauber of Giancarlo Fisichella.

"It was my mistake," he said of his white line incident. "I didn't cross the line, but I touched it, so they gave me a drive through. It didn't cost any places to us but then, unluckily, we started to get a little problem with the steering wheel. We needed to change it, and suddenly on one lap it stuck in second gear and I couldn't do anything, I couldn't even talk on the radio.

"But luckily I guess they knew what went wrong, and they gave me a new steering wheel. With five pit stops, it was OK! We would have got an extra place without the last problem, but at least we're going in the right direction."

Despite his dramatic afternoon Kimi was pleased just to have got a race distance under his belt after so many frustrating afternoons this year.

"Yes! It's nice to be driving the whole race, but it was a bit unlucky that we had problems. I would have been ahead of Fisichella, but all the rest, even without the drive through, we couldn't have had any other places."

With the new MP4-19B currently on schedule for the French GP, the two North American races were weekends to be endured. The Canadian points were a bonus, but Kimi is optimistic about Indianapolis.

"Hopefully I'll score some points in the next race too. Every other year the car has been good there, so maybe this car is still good there."

After trying the new car at Silverstone, Kimi has been itching to race it. Logistics and lack of miles meant a cautious approach, but its impending appearance has given him a boost. Perhaps all is not lost from a season which many of us thought would see him challenging for the championship.

"I think it's going to help. For sure I would have wanted to have it here or in the USA, but it was not possible. It's better everywhere, it's better to drive and it's better for the tyres. For sure if we have a good car we can get good results. Hopefully we can challenge for wins..."