No team orders to help Coulthard

This week's AUTOSPORT magazine reports that many Formula 1 insiders believe that McLaren's only chance to beat Michael Schumacher and Ferrari is to play them at their own game. The German is the unequivocal number one at the world champion team.

But McLaren boss Ron Dennis said: "Orders in our team are never used unless the mathematics of the situation dictate it, such as when one driver can win the championship and other one can't.

"Team orders divide the team. It becomes very apparent that there is a number one and a number two - and the number one will demand all the best ingrediants behind him."

Former McLaren driver Martin Brundle, who helps manage Coulthard, admires the team's philosophy, but has doubts about it working in practice. "If you wait for the mathematics to shake themselves out, it is probably too late," he said.

This week's AUTOSPORT includes a detailed report from last weekend's launch of the new MP4-17, the story of Coulthard's first test in the new car and an exclusive interview with McLaren's star technical director Adrian Newey.

AUTOSPORT latest issue goes on sale tomorrow (Thursday).