DC predicts a podium finish in Germany

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from planetf1.com:

DC predicts a podium finish in Germany

Friday July 16 2004

David Coulthard is predicting that McLaren will claim their second successive podium finish in Germany next weekend - and their second of the season.

The Scot's spirits have been lifted ahead of the German GP thanks to his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen's second placed finish in Sunday's British race. It was the team's first top-three result in what has been a problematic and difficult year.

The first half of 2004 has been McLaren's worst for 23 years with the former Champions struggling to finish races never mind score points. The team's fortunes, though, appear to have turned around with the introduction of a heavily revised MP4-19B, which made its debut in France.

One week later and McLaren were back at the front of the grid with Raikkonen claiming pole position on Saturday at Silverstone. He followed that up with a second placed finish on the Sunday.

"I think it was a very positive weekend, Kimi's pole was a great qualifying performance," said his team-mate Coulthard.

"The end result of course is that you want to be standing in the middle part of the podium so there's still a bit of work to be done. But when you consider where we were earlier this year, we've taken definitely the biggest step forward of any team."

"The beginning of the year was pretty soul-destroying for everyone involved in the team because we knew we had some problems going into the season but it wasn't until we got to Melbourne that the reality of the position really was clear."

"So that was a big shock and it got worse thereafter because we had reliability problems. But we've worked hard and the guys did a great job back at the factory, Mercedes have come up with more horsepower so more can be done on the car and the engine."

"And from a driver's point of view we are still discovering this car. We have a performance step on the engine when we go to Hockenheim and that should take us forward a little bit. If we can pick a really good tyre for those conditions then we can be stepping back onto the podium again."

[rodders47 2]

yep Kimi with a podium finish seems reasonable, D.C. however ( even though I like the guy) seems very remote!!

[kiko01 0]

yep Kimi with a podium finish seems reasonable, D.C. however ( even though I like the guy) seems very remote!!

I completly agree. I like DC as well but i think that if one McLaren finishes in the podium that one will be KR

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It will be interesting to see if the new nose on the McLaren gives them a performance advantage in Germany

[webber 0]

yea i hope the new nose gives Mclaren a bit extra so that they can really put it to ferrari.

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The hotter weather in Germany (if it doesn

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Mclaren are no longer running with the new nose in Germany. they said they needed to test it more.

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Yep, the new aerodynamic updates will now be ready for the next GP.

[C.A.L. 0]

Button starting from the rear will be one less car for D.C. to have to pass, should the ever elusive podium come his way.

Should Sato's engine go ....well the odds get even better for D.C. , hmmm .... this could indeed be the race for D.C.....

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Yep, DC could score well tomorrow