Monday April 10th, 2000

By Timothy Collings

David Coulthard promised a McLaren comeback in next week's British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

He refused to be overawed by Michael Schumacher's early season hat-trick and warned: "Don't think this is over by any means."

There were more defiant words from Coulthard, who, with team mate Mika Hakkinen, bagged the podium places beneath Schumacher at Sunday's San Marino Grand Prix.

"We may not have won here but we are back in the game. We are capable of doing the business and getting 16 points at Silverstone.

"That is what we are going to be aiming for and I have no doubt that we can achieve it. It is going to be a hell of a contest. But we have got the speed and the performance."

The Briton clearly believes he can repeat his Silverstone success last year, the race where Schumacher crashed after a brakes failure and broke his leg.

McLaren chief Ron Dennis put a brave face on Hakkinen's failure to win after appearing to have the outcome sewn up at three-quarters distance.

"Look beyond the obvious and you can see that both of our cars finished the race and that everyone did an excellent job," he said.

"This wasn't the result we wanted, but there are 14 more races to come and it's clear that we still have the potential to win - and we are certainly looking forward to Silverstone."

Schumacher said he was not worried about returning to the scene of his accident. "It was the kind of thing that can happen anywhere and at any time," he said. "I will just take a much closer look at the run-off areas this time."