Rogue Profile of McLaren

“An eventful qualifying where I experienced some difficulties,” the Finn explained. “I had to change from my race car to the T-car for one of my timed laps and back again which didn’t make things easy. It’s a pity because I think I could have achieved a better time. Under the circumstances I’m satisfied with the result and aim for a competitive race tomorrow.”

“It’s a pity that I didn’t finish a race.” He said. “Like David, I was stuck behind both Renaults for the majority of the Grand Prix but eventually managed to out brake Jenson Button at the first corner on lap 40, which I held until my car suffered a wheel hub failure with three laps to go which cost me fourth place.”

“A fairly uneventful race for me,” explained Raikkonen “The car was handling pretty well, but we just didn’t have the speed to be at the front. The team told me to retire after the exhaust broke, and they detected hot gasses on the suspension. We will continue to work on improving the package and hopefully we will see results soon.”

“I don’t know why but all of a sudden my rear wing failed on the straight on lap four when I was in fourth position and that was the end of my race,” Kimi said. “I know the team will investigate what caused the problem. It’s one of those things that happen very rarely so I don’t worry too much about it.”

“While all the top teams suffered problems today, we are still frustrated by the structural failure on Kimi’s rear wing. Within less than a minute we were able to interrogate our database and confirm that the wing assembly on David’s car was effectively new which supported by our extensive test mileage convinced us that there was no risk to David,” explained Ron Dennis. “On the up side David drove a good race and assisted by an effective strategy he ultimately earned the team a third place. It’s useful to have the points, but our sights are still firmly fixed on closing the gap to our main competition.”

“First of all I’m pleased to finish the race, it’s been some time,” Kimi said, speaking of his run of recent retirements. “I made a good start and had an enjoyable battle with Ralf Schumacher in the opening stages and managed to keep him behind me. However we had a problem with the fuel rig during my pit stop and subsequently didn’t take enough fuel on board. The team told me to conserve fuel, which slowed me down considerably and cost me a podium position. However to finish in the points was a nice way to end the weekend.”

“It’s not a performance issue,” said team manager David Ryan, “It’s a safety issue. They appear to have used something to get rid of the tyre marks in our pit area and it has created potholes exactly where the cars will be stopping for pitstops in the race on Sunday. It will affect the cars as they come in under braking and as they accelerate away. We’ve spoken to the circuit director and he’s going to do something about it. “

McLaren were left stunned after their performance in qualifying for the 2002 Hungarian
Grand Prix. Coming into the Grand Prix a number of pundits had tipped Raikkonen
for victory given their strong showing in Monaco, earlier in the season. At the
end of the qualifying hour the two McLarens lined up tenth and eleventh on the
grid, two seconds behind Barrichello’s pace setting Ferrari.

Coulthard, who qualified in tenth position, was the top McLaren driver with
a time of 1m15.223s. Given the fact that in the previous years race Coulthard
had qualified in a time of 1m14.860s and placed second on the grid, McLaren were
disappointed to say the least. (In 2001 Schumacher took pole position with a time
of 1:14.059 and Barrichello had brought the mark down to 1m13.333s, an improvement
of 0.7s.)

The team was left dumfounded by their performance, unable to offer a specific
reason for their woeful showing.

"Obviously I’m very disappointed. It was extremely difficult to make the
tyres work and find the right balance. We have been struggling all weekend and
so far we have been unable to find a better performance from the package,"
David said. "We will work hard to try and identify where and how to
improve things for tomorrow’s race."

"Our lack of performance in light of the results we achieved in Monaco
and Magny Cours, which are circuits with similar characteristics, is something
which we at this stage don’t fully understand," added McLaren boss, Ron
Dennis. "No specific part of the package is responsible, but we haven’t
even managed to get the best out of what we have. Obviously the engineers will
work hard prior to the race and I’m sure our performance will improve, but it’s
going to need a very good strategy to get a podium finish when one takes into
consideration how difficult it is to overtake at the Hungaroring."

At the 2002 Japanese Grand Prix Minardi team principal, Paul Stoddart threatened
to walk away from Formula One after a consortium of four teams, lead by McLaren
informed him in the paddock that they were taking him to arbitration to recover
the early fought over television funds. The Australian was paid the monies originally
intended for Prost earlier in the season after coming to an amicable agreement
with Bernie Ecclestone.

Stoddart fully believed he was entitled to the funds and Bernie Ecclestone
agreed. Ron Dennis, Eddie Jordan, Dave Richards and Frank Williams have other
ideas and want the cash distributed evenly. According to Stoddart, this action
will kill his minnow team, as he cannot afford a $2,000,000 fee to fight the matter
in court.

"I will turn my back on Formula One if this travesty of injustice is
allowed to proceed," Stoddart said. "I cannot afford four months
of my time nor the $2 million of costs that it will take to fund a challenge to
this. I have circulated a document to them (other teams) from Bernie’s solicitors
to me putting me on notice that they have now received the papers for this to
go to arbitration. At this time, with all the problems Formula One really does
have, for this to happen for me is nothing short of self-destruction."

"In the last 12 months we have been through so many problems, the sport
as a whole, and we’ve lost two teams. Now we are going to lose three, as I can’t
afford to fight this. Maybe there’s another one that’s not so steady as well.
Do they really want eight teams in Melbourne next year? I have gone through hell
and back again this year and this is the icing on the cake. It’s bad enough having
to deal with the problems I have had to deal with, but when you get knives in
your back from your co-team principals, I’m not interested. It’s a case of ‘Is
this the straw that breaks the camel’s back, do I want to be involved in a sport
with such individuals in it?’ I’m not sure that I do."

Even before the start of the Australian Grand Prix tensions were running high
between Minardi and McLaren. McLaren boss, Ron Dennis had suggested that the longer-established
Jordan team should get preference over Minardi due to Formula One setting up a
"fighting fund" to bail out smaller teams in the light of both Prost
and Arrow’s departure form the sport.

Agreement to establish a pool of around $30 US million dollars for the smaller
teams was reached the previous month at meeting between team bosses and F1′s head
honcho, Bernie Ecclestone.

"It isn’t to do with money," Dennis told a reporter in the Albert
Park Paddock. "It’s to do with some inadequacies, and there are many,
in the Concorde Agreement and the desire by a quantity of teams, not just Williams
and McLaren, to properly resolve these shortcomings in how certain aspects of
the fiscal arrangements to Grand Prix are currently structured. No-one wants that
to impact on any specific team and there is a whole compromise which Jordan and
Minardi are aware of which does not require anyone to give any money back but
which will lead to a clear resolution of the situation."

The Concorde Agreement is the "top secret" contract by which the
business side of Formula One controlled. The original contract that was drafted
in 1981 and was said to be well out of date; the teams pressing for a radical
rewrite.

Dennis was being very roguish; he was attempting to force the revision of the
Concorde agreement by using Minardi as bait. By seemingly attacking Minardi he
was forcing the sport to close ranks and protect them by rewriting the contract.
Very clever Mr Dennis!

On the third-lap of the race David Coulthard’s critics collectively sighed in
relief when an electrical problem caused the Scot’s engine to die, forcing him
to pull onto the grass and to retire from a strong second position. Coulthard
was not happy and took the opportunity to complain about the car’s reliability,
given it was last year’s model.

"I made a good start off the line. I saw that there was going to be
a coming together at the second corner and managed to take a wide line to avoid
it. However on lap three at turn four the engine started to cut and finally stopped
completely at turn nine whilst I was in second place," he explained.
"The team later told me that it was an electrical problem and obviously
I’m disappointed as we could have finished on the podium today. Congratulations
to Kimi on winning his first Grand Prix which is a very special feeling for every
Formula One driver."