Coulthard must wait to get his hands on new McLaren

McLAREN believe they have made the right decision to start next season with a modified version of this year’s car.

David Coulthard is unlikely to get his hands on the MP4-18 car until the fourth round of the 2003 season when Formula One returns to Europe for the San Marino Grand Prix in Italy.

But McLaren insist the old Mercedes-powered car will be significantly different to the MP4-17 which won just one race last season as rivals Ferrari dominated the campaign.