By Parminio
June 24 2003

A couple of crashes, a couple of fires and numerous unexplained stoppages on track with little or no news from the team is leaving McLaren fans scratching their heads and wondering, "Is the MP4-18 in trouble?" It may be. Then again it may not. Team McLaren have gone through some pretty great lengths to keep a lid on the 4-18's apparent "teething" problems. Everything from not releasing the exact causes of problems to completely changing venues has gone on, and the reasons for it leave fans in the dark. The biggest issue from what we fans can gather is that at the very least, there is a problem with heat. There are also vast rumours about these mysterious stoppages on track. The best guess is that the stoppages are gearbox related, as there have been no reports or pictures of the engine "blowing up". Again, this is pretty much guesswork, but with the total lack of any real news from the team it's the best we can do.

This apparent heat issue has even seen some "rigged" ports added to the rear of the new McLaren...suggesting either a change in exhaust configuration, or just the addition of ventilation to aid in cooling. To me, the ports seem way too close to the cockpit to be the actual exhaust, but again...with lack of real news from the team this is total speculation.

As the target date for the new McLaren comes and goes each race weekend, with no real end in sight, one wonders if we will see the MP4-18 by years end. It seems likely that we will, as the test seem to be getting more and more intense and at least some lengthy spot runs have been made. The problem is, with Ferrari now figuring out the 2003 GA's max potential better and better each week, and the Williams team LEAPING forward over the last two races, how long can McLaren really expect to keep it close?

We have done far better than expected this year, but with the race for both the constructors and the drivers titles still wide open, this particular McLaren fan wants the MP4-18 on track soon. Hopefully by Silverstone we will have it...but if not by then, we may need to just concentrate on what was our goal at the start of the year: Holding off Williams.