 However, they were hampered when the MP4-18 car designed for that year suffered crash test and reliability problems, forcing them to continue using a 'D' development of the year-old MP4-17 for longer than they had initially planned.Despite this, Räikkönen scored points consistently and challenged for the championship up to the final race, eventually losing by two points.The team began with the MP4-19, which technical director Adrian Newey described as "a debugged version of [the MP4-18]".