Flash.(Briefs)

New McLaren in June?

The McLaren-Mercedes Formula One team is unlikely to introduce its 2003 F1 car until June, halfway through the season. McLaren is leading the world championship with a win apiece from Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard and consistent scores with the interim MP4-17D, which has only failed to register a points-finish once (Malaysia) in the first four races. "The MP4-18 will not make its debut until the Canadian Grand Prix [round eight, on June 15] at the earliest,'' said technical director Adrian Newey. "The new car has been designed for the Michelin tire, because the old one had a precedence that went back to Bridgestone. The rest of it is an evolution of the current car. We hope to be testing soon, but then we obviously must allow for debugging and we have to be confident in its reliability before racing it.''

Another Millen hits the track

Ryan Millen, 18, was on his father's crew in the Cardrona paddock (page 42), fresh from following in Scott Dixon's footsteps and winning a New Zealand Formula Ford championship as a teenager. Millen's ultimate goal is Formula One, and he wants to get into the Euro-feeder F1 chain with Renault or BMW. "The Millen family heritage has been dirt,'' said dad Rod Millen, "but he just loves formula cars. His time in New Zealand with the Canterbury Racing School in the last couple of months has made real sense. He's had so much seat time. He's done something like 900 laps testing and 18 races over the South Island championship. And more than half of his wins were in the rain. That makes a difference on whether ...