McLaren's Silverstone pledge

Although David Coulthard and Kimi Raikkonen finished sixth and seventh respectively at Magny-Cours, team chief Whitmarsh knows that a further increase in speed is required for the team to run at the front in the team's home race.

"The French Grand Prix demonstrated that MP4-19B has provided us with a major step forwards in terms of overall performance," he said. "We are all fully aware however, that another significant step is required to reach the level we, as a team, strive for.

"As the British Grand Prix sees the final back-to-back of the season, there is no opportunity to test this week, however we have the benefit of having tested 19B at Silverstone a couple of weeks ago and we have some further developments to bring on line for our home race."

Raikkonen said he was much happier with the handling of the new chassis in Magny-Cours, and is keen to put that to full use at Silverstone.

"I enjoyed driving the MP4-19B in a competitive environment last weekend and am really looking forward to racing it again so soon after the French Grand Prix," said Raikkonen. "On paper it may not have seemed to be the best result, but this was more due to circumstance and we felt that the car ran well.

"I have had the opportunity to test the MP4-19B at Silverstone, it was a positive session and the car felt good there. Silverstone is a challenging circuit to drive, but it does allow you to really push the limits on it super-fast corners. For example Copse, which is great fun to drive, is very fast and probably one of the quickest on the calendar.

"There are also some slower, much tighter bends at Silverstone that demand good traction, as a result we need to ensure set-up is optimised to get the best out of the car. We now of course have data from the 19B in a race situation, which will help with this."