The McLaren MP4-19 is a Formula One racing car that was built by McLaren for the 2004 season. The chassis was designed by Adrian Newey, Paddy Lowe, Pat Fry, Mike Coughlan and Peter Prodromou with Mario Illien designing the bespoke Ilmor engine. The car was driven by Kimi Räikkönen and David Coulthard. It was described as a "debugged version" of the ill-fated McLaren MP4-18, but it was not a successful car. The team suffered various problems concerning reliability at the beginning of the season, with eight retirements in five races. Launch control and fully-automatic gearboxes were also banned for , meaning the driver had to start using the paddle-shifters, and find the effective bite point and release the clutch manually, again. These electronic driver aids had been used by the team for the previous three seasons, since the 2001 Spanish Grand Prix. By mid-season, a new car, the MP4-19B, was required. This was an all-new car with a radically redesigned aerodynamic package. The results were immediately positive and gave the team hope of a better end to the season. Coulthard qualified third for the MP4-19B's first race at the French Grand Prix, followed by further points and podiums from both drivers. The upgrade was finally justified when Räikkönen gave the team its only win of the season when he won the Belgian Grand Prix.