McLaren's woe continues

The McLaren-Mercedes team's dismal season continued at Barcelona after its drivers struggled to finish within the top ten, despite a high attrition rate that caused seven retirements during the Spanish Grand Prix

David Coulthard qualified and finished tenth while team-mate Kimi Raikkonen could only improve two places from his 13th grid position. Both cars were a lap down and Raikkonen was under serious pressure from Mark Webber's Jaguar in the last few laps.

"It was a very difficult race as obviously our performance was down," said Coulthard afterwards. "We just have to take the pain at the moment and continue to work hard to improve.

"The positive things are that the car was reliable and the strategy was right. There is no doubt that we will get better - we have the depth, the focus and the resources - but it will take some time."

Raikkonen is resigned to the current situation: "We just couldn't do better today as it was clear we were not quick enough. There is no point in me getting frustrated as there is nothing I can do to change the situation, and I know that the team is as motivated and focused as ever to make progress."

Team prinicipal Ron Dennis summed up McLaren's plight: "The outcome of today's race is certainly not what we want, but we always knew that we would struggle at the Barcelona track. However, there is still some way to go before improvements can be seen. Our task is clear - the entire team has to continue to work hard to get back to where we want to be which is at the front."