The car felt quite a lot better but how soon we have it depends on how quickly we get all the spare parts Kimi Raikkonen

McLaren tested the car at Silverstone last week and are hoping to give it its debut at July's French Grand Prix.

"There's only been one test so we don't want to go mad, but I'm quite confident that it'll be an improvement," he said.

"Hopefully with the reworked machine we can start fighting for podiums and possibly wins, because it has been very difficult for us so far."

It has been a disastrous season for McLaren and Raikkonen, who finished a close second to Michael Schumacher last year while the team came third in the constructors' championship.

Photo gallery: McLaren makes debut

Raikkonen has only one point in the 2004 standings, while team-mate David Coulthard has four.

However, the Finn is optimistic for the future after the successful testing at Silverstone.

"It went really well. The only small problems were with the cooling and brakes which came due to parts and the tight schedule that we were on," he added.

"But the car felt quite a lot better. How soon we have it depends on how quickly we get all the spare parts.

"With the current car we have had the biggest problem with the rear under braking, where it's very loose and sometimes hard to adapt to corners.

"It's also heavier on tyres than the 17D was and so our race pace not as strong as it should be.

"In all those areas the 19B is better."