New McLaren Unlikely for British GP

McLaren have effectively ruled out racing their new Formula One car at the British Grand Prix despite intensive tests starting in Spain this week.

The next few days are the last for teams to test before a summer ban comes into force from Silverstone on July 20 until after the Hungarian Grand Prix at the end of August.

McLaren boss Ron Dennis said at the French Grand Prix at the weekend that his team's Barcelona tests would be crucial for the MP4-18's immediate prospects. He hinted it might be some time before drivers Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard got to race it this season, if at all.

"We've got a very intense programme. We think that's a very good basis on which to determine when and if the car is raced," he said. "Our target was and still is to have it as a raceable option for Silverstone. But it's almost certain it will not race in Silverstone. That doesn't detract from our objective."

Dennis said each Grand Prix outcome would also determine whether the car, deliberately brought out late to make it as advanced as possible, should be raced at the next.

The main concern is reliability and the test ban will make it impossible for McLaren to be sure of that, unless they decide this week, until testing resumes before the Italian Grand Prix in September.

The new car has twice crashed heavily in testing, due to driver errors according to Dennis, and has failed a mandatory side-impact test while the old MP4-17D has been running champions Ferrari and Williams close.

Finland's Raikkonen is still second in the Championship after 10 races, eight points behind Ferrari's Michael Schumacher.

"The 17D is more than capable of winning the World Championship," said Dennis. "For the moment the important thing with the 18 is to make sure it is an option. That's what we're working on, to make sure we have a raceable option."

McLaren have also said that they will build an MP4-19 for next year, testing it some time this year, a situation that could mean the 18 version barely races at all.

Dennis said McLaren had the capacity to work on three separate cars at once.

"It sounds adventurous but we've got it very much in hand," he said.