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A rare poor season last year. They lost their technical director, Adrian Newey, then got him back again in the blink of an eye, all whilst efforts were being diverted into getting the new Paragon factory up and running. Hopefully things will go a little more smoothly this year, although they have lost their biggest asset, Mika Hakkinen, and replaced him with an inexperienced young star. This could hinder the team’s technical development. Equally it could prove to be the inspiration the team seems to require at the moment.
Last year the MP4-16 was average by Mclaren standards (something most teams would love to achieve!). Several factors have been blamed, not least the Adrian Newey fiasco mid-season. All that
has been sorted out now so expect the best designer in Formula 1 to create another world beater (but maybe not Schumacher beater). There is an all new Mercedes V10 to go with the car, and whilst there are some doubts over its current power output, expect it to be right up there by Melbourne. The one
overriding factor, which will potentially make or break the car is Michelin tyres, new to Mclaren for 2002. It will take time to accrue enough data to use the tyres effectively and it is a serious race against time to achieve this for the opening race.
David Coulthard
He is more focused, fitter, best/last chance. These are just some of the clichés permanently attached to Coulthard during the pre-season build up. This time it may well be true. Coulthard's number one obstacle in the race for previous championships has rarely been Michael Schumacher, in fact, all things being equal, on track battles with the German he tends to come out better with several decent overtaking moves in his favour (more than can be said for Hakkinen who often seemed to be in Schumacher’s wheel tracks for three grand prixs at a time without even attempting an overtake). The fact that schumi tends to deride Coulthard at every possible opportunity to the press indicates that there may be something there to worry the man. In truth the Scots main problem has always been team mate Mika Hakkinen, the favourite of team principle Ron Dennis, and a driver whose qualifying pace is simply unbeatable when he gets it right, certainly in the same car. First the good news – Mika has gone, choosing to take a year holiday. Now the bad news – his replacement (Kimi Raikkonen) appears to be just as fast and a lot more aggressive, and he’s also a Finn! Coulthards best chance is to capitalise on his experience to outclass his young teammate early on and hopefully the new car will be good enough to take him into an early lead in the championship.
Kimi Raikkonen
Once again lots of clichés apply. He’s a fast, inexperienced young driver with everything to prove. He
will be desperately trying to avoid ‘Jenson Button Syndrome’ and maintain the pace he showed in his
debut season with Sauber. Only time will tell for sure, but he is good enough to win races this year provided the car is quick enough. The major obstacle, which stops fast, young drivers becoming
consistent race winners tends to be mental toughness, something which Kimi seems to have buckets off as illustrated by several significant crashes at the end of last season which he immediately bounced back from (metaphorically of course). Possibly a champion in the making, but not this year.
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| Betting Verdict |
1pt Mclaren to win Constructors Championship at 7/1
Drivers Championship - Coulthard for the title 12/1 is an excellent price. In Australia he was emerging as the main challenger to Schumacher, even with a misbehaving engine management system that kept launching him off the track. Admittedly much of his hopes rest upon the performance of the Michelin tyres and Mercedes engine, but that’s motorsport. Michael Schumacher at 2/5 is a non-starter.
Constructors Championship – The ominously good form of Ferrari has given them very poor odds at ½, but this is based on Michael Schumacher dominance. If Coulthard and Mclaren can raise their game, particularly when Ferrari run the new car for the first time to take advantage of the inevitable teething problems then they have an excellent chance at the title. Another major factor is the simple fact that if Coulthard is challenging for the title, then Schumacher is not running away in the points and so teammate performance will have a much larger effect on the outcome. This is where I feel Mclaren are better equipped to make a challenge with rising star Kimi Raikkonen.
Take the 7/1 on Mclaren winning the Championship
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