McLaren are Ready, Says Coulthard

McLaren's David Coulthard believes his team have solved the reliability problems that plagued the MP4/19's pre-season testing and that McLaren are ready to challenge for the 2004 Championship.

McLaren were faced with reliability issues throughout the last month of testing, and Coulthard's teammate Kimi Raikkonen recently expressed fear that his car may not make it to the finish line in next week's Australian Grand Prix. But Coulthard said he disagrees with the Finn.

"I don't agree with that," the Scot told Gazzetta dello Sport. "Formula One has always been about reliability, but our main question mark is how fast are we?

"Paradoxically, in Australia I'd be happier to be fast and not reliable, rather than reliable and slow. With the former we'd know we have a good car for the season. At the moment it won't be a surprise if Ferrari, Williams, and Renault will be fast in Melbourne. I wonder where we'll be.

"We are all wondering who will get results and who won't. I think we are ready: we have been doing a lot of testing, we worked hard to solve reliability problems, even if I don't deny that I would have liked to have done more race simulations."

Coulthard further stated that his team should be challenging for the Championship this year, but said much of it depends on which tyre will dominate this year.

"Twelve months ago we arrived in Melbourne without knowing where we were, hoping to be able to fight for a podium at least," Coulthard explained. "In the first few races we showed to be incredibly strong, then we had a drop in performance. Now it seems we are closer to the best compared to the recent past. But the big question mark is still the difference between Michelin and Bridgestone tyres.

"In some conditions the Michelins have been faster, while in others the Bridgestones had an advantage, as been shown by [Michael] Schumacher's record in Imola. I think that in the heat the Michelins still have an advantage; in the wet, on the other hand, despite our steps forward, I think the Japanese still have a small advantage."

Coulthard - who is set to be replaced by Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya in 2005 - also said he was personally prepared for the upcoming season and said it may not necessarily be his last at McLaren.

"I'm ready," he told the Italian newspaper. "I've been doing this job for 22 years; I love driving cars, developing them, racing. I think I'm very fast.

"It's not a sure thing [that I'd leave McLaren] regardless of what's being said. In F1 nothing is guaranteed.

"So for now, I'll try to do my best and we'll see what opportunities arise."