Whitmarsh: McLaren Could Use New Car at Imola

Formula One leaders McLaren could rush their new car into service if it proves both reliable and significantly faster than the current one, says managing director Martin Whitmarsh.

The San Marino Grand Prix at Imola on April 20 is the first European race of the season and team boss Ron Dennis has said the new car will not test until after that. However, Autosport magazine today quoted Whitmarsh as saying that the new MP4-18A would be running after next week's Brazilian Grand Prix.

"By the time we get the team back from Brazil we will start running it," he said. "If it comes out of the box and is two seconds per lap quicker than the MP4-17D and dead reliable, I'm sure we will find a way of running it at Imola," he added.

"But life is not usually like that. The car we have now is not too shabby, so it's a risk/benefit analysis. It will inevitably be less reliable than the old model so what will be the benefit of bringing it out early?

"If it's a 10th quicker, is it worth pushing to get it into service? The answer is no. But if it's half a second quicker, then it gets a bit more interesting. A second per lap and it gets urgent."

McLaren have won the first two races of the season with a development of their 2002 car, having delayed introducing the new Mercedes-powered one in an effort to make the biggest leap possible and catch up with dominant Ferrari.

Ferrari have also delayed introducing their new F2003-GA but plan to give it a first outing at Imola. McLaren are more likely to give their new car its race debut in Spain on May 4 or Austria on May 18 but could conceivably wait until much later.

"We've got provisions for parts and engines until Canada (in June) for the MP4-17D," said Whitmarsh.