They felt they had an excellent car going into this season but concerns about the Mercedes engine appear justified. Ron Dennis, the team principal, said: “I believe we are going to win races this year. At the moment we’re just not quick enough, we recognise that. We need to be better on all circuits.”We don’t hide from a lack of performance. It’s painful in Formula One if you’re not quick enough but we are up front about that. Openness comes at a price – it’s embarrassing when you’re not quick and at the front of the grid But we’re fighters We take it on the chin and come back. We’ll get it right.”One consolation for Dennis is the pace and application of 22-year-old Raikkonen, recruited from Sauber to replace Mika Hakkinen, who is on sabbatical.

Dennis said: “I think it was the right decision to take Kimi He is getting better by the race and keeping David honest. We’re delighted with both of our drivers and know the lack of pace is not down to them.”. Warrington are pursuing the 33-year-old former Australia Test centre Paul McGregor, as one of the possible replacements for David Kidwell, who returned to Australia last week. He is known to be keen on making a second comeback in Britain and a Warrington spokesman said: “Our performance director, Steve Anderson, is checking on a number of players and Paul is one.”Obtaining a work permit for McGregor may prove problematic, however, as his recent rugby has been limited.Meanwhile, Kidwell, who returned to the southern hemisphere because his wife was homesick, is to join Sydney City.Warrington have their injury problems too and are bottom of the Super League after winning one of six matches this season. Vinny Webb, who has coached Great Britain Students and the Barla Amateur International side, is another in the running..

It is commonly accepted that the struggling Springboks do not know which way to turn or in what direction they might be heading at the moment, but the situation surrounding the future of Johan “Rassie” Erasmus is too daft for words. All very understandable, except that there is no contract.Yesterday, the Bokke management professed bewilderment at claims that Erasmus had been granted a place in their international squad. “You can take it 100 per cent from me that a contract has not been signed with Rassie,” said the South African team manager Bruce Watson Smith, adding that although the new Springbok coach, Rudi Straeuli, had met Erasmus in Bloemfontein and expressed keen interest in his continued services at top level, agreement was some way off.Indeed, the 29-year-old forward from the Eastern Cape will be asked to prove his fitness at a Springbok trial on 17 May – no straightforward matter, given the injury problems that have restricted him to 11 serious matches in 12 months. London Irish, who saw Erasmus as one of the two or three world-class operators they require if they are to capitalise fully on their progress this season, will keep a close eye on developments, even though they have virtually given up the chase.The Exiles, who play their first cup final for more than two decades when they face Northampton at Twickenham on Saturday, have endured an uncomfortable 36 hours, one way or another. Very nearly beaten by relegation-threatened Harlequins in front of their own followers at the weekend – they needed a try in the eighth minute of injury time to sneak an 18-all draw – they attracted some unwelcome after-match publicity when the Quins team manager, Mike Scott, revealed he had been spat at by home supporters.Scott does not intend to make a formal complaint but he was upset by the incident, which forced him to leave his stand seat at the Madejski Stadium and watch the remainder of the proceedings from the dug-out. “It is not pleasant when someone spits at you and it is not the sort of thing you want to see happening in rugby, or in any other sport,” he said.

“There again, the whole London Irish club cannot be held responsible for one or two isolated incidents.”Phil Greening, the Wasps hooker, has lost his opportunity to lead the England seven-a-side squad in this weekend’s International Rugby Board tournament in Singapore. Greening, heartily sick of injury problems after being ruled out of last summer’s Lions tour without playing a game, damaged his lower leg during his club’s Premiership victory over Saracens on Sunday and was quickly declared unavailable.His place will be taken by the young Rugby back-row forward Ben Lewitt while Jamie Noon, the Newcastle centre, will captain the team, which won the last tournament in Hong Kong.. If I were asked to nominate the most interesting feature of rugby union football during the past season, I should say it was the mass entrance of substitutes in the last quarter of the match, sometimes before then, often, indeed, when there were only a few minutes to go before the final whistle. I have even witnessed the introduction of substitutes in injury time. The match reporters from the papers, equally hard-pressed, if not more so, ask their colleagues whether the chap with the No 17 on his jersey is really Jones, or is it Bloggs, for teams add to or subtract from their substitutes with more abandon than they show over their first choices.A particular injustice concerns the award of international caps. A player can trot on to the field, fail to touch either the ball or an opponent, and trott off it a few minutes later in proud procession of a full cap.