The McLaren team has admitted that the long-awaited and much-hyped MP4-18 may never actually race.
The astonishing admission came from McLaren managing director Martin Whitmarsh speaking to AUTOSPORT magazine, after the team admitted it would start 2004 with a brand new MP4-19. Previously the team had indicated that the MP4-18 would be the mainstay of their 2004 challenge, but now it seems that the MP4-18 may never race in anger.
"Anything is possible," responded Whitmarsh to queries over the possibility of the MP4-18 never racing, "The reality is that if we were winning the championship and in our assessment we could win the championship more reliably with the current car, then we would do that."
Last week the MP4-18 failed the mandatory FIA crash tests, heightening speculation that the car may never appear this season. Although the MP4-18 may not race, in reality the car may be used as an advanced test bed for the design of the new MP4-19, which may carry over much from the MP4-18.
There is however some speculation that the MP4-18 has been a huge disappointment in the tests conducted so far. McLaren have not released any details of testing times and drivers have been tight-lipped about going discussing the car's performance in detail.
The team will decide this week after a test in Spain about whether to race the MP4-18 at all.
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