McLaren problems concern Raikkonen

The performance of the McLaren MP4-19 in winter testing has been somewhat erratic and with the first race of 2004 just two weeks away, Kimi Raikkonen is concerned. The new car broke lap records at Valencia at the end of last year but the recent ...

The performance of the McLaren MP4-19 in winter testing has been somewhat erratic and with the first race of 2004 just two weeks away, Kimi Raikkonen is concerned. The new car broke lap records at Valencia at the end of last year but the recent tests in Barcelona saw Raikkonen and his teammates languishing near the bottom of the times.

Kimi Raikkonen.

Photo by DaimlerChrysler.

"It's been hard to get a good idea of the car because we have some problems with it still and I haven't had too many days in it," the Finn told ITV-F1. "We've not done enough running. It's not one specific problem, but it's just things that take time to fix."

"Before Christmas the new car was running really well and it was quick. It is still quick, so once we solve the problems we will be in good shape. For most of the problems we have a solution, but it's just that fixing it can't happen in a week. The new engine seems to have had problems from the beginning, but they have a solution which is in the pipeline."

"We didn't have a good test in Barcelona, I don't know why because the test before in Valencia we went very quick. No-one knows what was wrong but we didn't get the best lap times. Of course it's a bit worrying because there is not long until the season starts."

Raikkonen did break the lap record during last week's test session at Valencia, which is surely a promising sign. After last season's performance many have labeled Raikkonen as one of the main threats to Michael Schumacher's reign as champion in 2004 but the Finn isn't about to make any predictions.

"No-one really knows who is the best," he commented. "You see good times from different teams at every test, you have to wait until the first race to see who is really quickest."