McLaren again got both its cars into the points at the end of a grand prix, but that wasn't enough for Kimi Raikkonen, who firmly believed that he shoulꩲd have gained more than three points for sixth place.

The Finn made a good start to the 73-lap affair at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and was able to𒆙 slot in ahead of some quicker opponents, buﷺt more problems with the unloved MP4-19 caused him to slip back through the field even as some of his rivals fell by the wayside.

"I'm a bit disappointed as I strongly believe I could have finished on the podium," Raikkonen insi𒁏steജd, "We have taken a step forward with the car, and were able to run reasonably competitively, but it was not to be.

"We had a strong race strategy in place, the car was handling well, and I was able to really attack. Howe☂ver, I was forced to make two unscheduled s♕tops as the team had to top up the pneumatic air system on the engine and, in the end, that cost me quite a few positions."

Team boss Ron Dennis agreed that a top three spot behind the all-conquering ൲Ferraris was likely had it not been for the engine problem.

"Both Kimi and David [Coulthard] were on strong strategies in an incident-filled rac💜e and were able to run competitively," he confirmed, "There is no doubt that Kimi could have finished on the podium had his race not been badly hampered by a faulty engine air compressor, but at least we managed to score five points, which ꧃is a small consolation."

Mercedes motorsport chief Norbert Haug made little comment about the fact that another engine problem had hit the team's chances of a good resul💞t, although he had no option but to acknowledge the source of the disappointment🧜.

"Kimi could have managed a better result if he hadﷺn't suffered problems with the pneumatic system," he confirmed.

The second car, in which Coulthard battled manfully with Mark Web💦ber before the Australian's retirement, was also delayed, this time by debris caused by one of the many accidents on track.

"In the early stages I picked up some debris, which damaged my deflector and upset the balance of the car," the Scot r📖eported, "This made it dif🍬ficult to handle for the rest of the grand prix and, towards the end of the race, I had to make another stop as a piece of polystyrene had lodged itself underneath the car. I'm just looking forward to the next race at Magny-Cours."

The French Grand Prix, round ten of the 2004 season cou🎃ld see the competition debut of the revised MP4-19B, which Raikkonen tested impressively at Silverstone before the American flyaway races.