Formula 1
McLaren not fast enough for Coulthard
It would probably be fair to say that everyone in the team is disappointed with McLaren's performance so far this season, and David Coulthard is certainly one of them. Coulthard has scored only four points in the first three races, while teammate ...
Published: Apr 6, 2004, 6:56 PM
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It would probably be fair to say that everyone in the team is disappointed with McLaren's performance so far this season, and David Coulthard is certainly one of them. Coulthard has scored only four points in the first three races, while teammate Kimi Raikkonen has not even seen the chequered flag due to three car failures in a row.
David Coulthard.
Photo by DaimlerChrysler.
Coulthard told BBC Radio that McLaren's performance is "extremely disappointing", and added rather cryptically: "Not one member of the team that's really pulling their weight is not disappointed."
He attributes the car's short fallings to design issues and the fact that it's just not fast enough, although it does have its good points. "The balance of the car is not that bad," he conceded. "If the pace was there, I'd be reasonably happy with it."
"I've certainly had winning cars more difficult to drive than this one, but it just doesn't give the necessary speed in the corners and on the straights to give you the lap time. It's as simple as that."
"It's a combination of the entire package. One of the greatest strengths of the car is its ability to brake into the corners. Control systems are working very well. And it performs very strongly in that area relative to the competition. But leaving the corners, in the middle of the corners, positional ability is quite difficult, so that's where you lose the time."
Coulthard retired from the Bahrain Grand Prix with an engine related problem, and Raikkonen's Mercedes unit burst into flames to force him out. However, David doesn't believe the blame for the overall performance can be solely shouldered by engine problems.
"At the end of the day it's not one element that allows a Grand Prix car to win," he remarked. "You've got tyres, engine, drivers and chassis and all four of those things have to work in harmony or else you won't perform."
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