Raikkonen urges McLaren to improve reliability

McLAREN’s Kimi Raikkonen yesterday warned his team that it must improve the reliability of its cars if it is to stand any chance of fighting with World Champions Ferrari.

Raikkonen proved that the new MP4-19B has the speed at the Belgian Grand Prix nearly two weeks ago, when he won the team's first race of the season.

But the Finn has been forced to retire on seven occasions so far this year due to mechanical failures one of these happened when he was leading the German Grand Prix and his rear wing failed.

In contrast, World Champion Michael Schumacher's one and only retirement, at the Monaco Grand Prix, was caused by an accident.

"Michael's car is reliable and it also goes fast," Raikkonen said ahead of the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. "Right now we also have good speed compared to what we had at the beginning of the season but, at the same time, when we have had to retire 10 times Ferrari is failing once at maximum. That makes a huge difference."

In the 47 races Raikkonen has contested while with McLaren, he has retired from 21 of them

"What can I do for that? You cannot help it," he said. "I think I have not made many mistakes. It seems these problems happen at the beginning of the season and they destroy the whole championship fight.

"The team is working very hard trying to sort the problems out, otherwise we will not be able to challenge for the championship."

At the start of the season, Raikkonen suffered a string of engine failures. Now the Mercedes is performing well but there are now problems on other aspects of the car.

"This year has not been terribly good," he added. "It was painful that something went wrong and we had to retire. First the engine did not last, but right now the engine works well and we have encountered problems in other areas. It is these areas that the team is now focusing on."

Raikkonen's rival, BAR driver Jenson Button, fears that McLaren's recent renaissance will make his life even harder this weekend.

Button has benefited from lacklustre efforts by Williams and McLaren to emerge as a regular podium challenger for the first time this season.

Both driver and team are third in their respective championships easily their best efforts to date with just four races remaining, starting this weekend at Monza.

But Button believes Raikkonen's victory for McLaren in Belgium two weeks ago illustrates the increased challenge he is facing.

"It's a bit more difficult for us at the moment," he said.

"For me the McLaren is quicker and they are doing a slightly better job. If they perform like they did at Spa it will be very difficult."

But Raikkonen's Spa-Francorchamps win gave his rivals hope and Button is encouraged by testing times at Monza.

He said: "Michelin have been very strong this year, I just think that Ferrari have the better car. McLaren will be quick and Renault will be here.

"I think it's sure to be close and I don't think Ferrari will have a huge advantage. The times were very close in testing, that's good to see. It should be an exciting race."

In the meantime, Olivier Panis has called time on his driving career and will stop racing at the end of the year.

The Toyota team leader, who won his sole Grand Prix victory for Ligier at Monaco in 1996, has accepted a two-year contract from the team as their test driver.

"My decision to retire as an F1 race driver has come after some months of deep thought, but I am proud that Panasonic Toyota Racing has decided to retain my services," said Panis.

"I have a strong relationship with everyone at Toyota and I am pleased to be able to continue my work as a representative of the team both on and off the track."