At McLaren they started two projects during the 2002-03 winter. One lead by Neil Oatley was to further develop the MP4-17 to drive during the first 5 races (or more, as the new car might be introduced in Canada). Another under the lead of Newey was the design of the new car, where all McLaren hopes lays on. The new MP4-18 however never really came in action during a race, as it appeared in tests that the brand new car was faster, but far from reliable. He MP4-17D was just the upgrade of the MP4-17 developed in 2002. The chassis was designed by Adrian Newey, Mike Coughlan, Neil Oatley and Peter Prodromou with Mario Illien designing the bespoke Ilmor engine. The car was driven by Briton David Coulthard and Finn Kimi Räikkönen in both seasons. Coulthard starts the season by winning season opening Australian GP. Raikkonen won the next race, in Malaysia. Further the season Räikkönen consistently finished in the podiums (10 podiums in 17 races), and Coulthard scored points regularly achieving two more podium finishes. In the final drivers’ standings Kimi was second, just two points behind Michael Schumacher in Ferrari, and Coulthard was 7th.
| Season | Series | Event |
| 2003 | F1WC | |
| Driver | No. | Entrant |
| David Coulthard | 5 | West McLaren Mercedes |
| Scale | Manufacturer | Collection |
| 1:43 | Minichamps | McLaren Collection Edition 43 No.50 |
| Cat. No. | Quality | Rarity |
| 530034305 | 
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