3 April: Bahrain Grand Prix - Race Report - McLaren Mercedes
West McLaren Mercedes driver Kimi Raikkonen finished today's 57 lap Bahrain Grand Prix in third place. Team mate Pedro de la Rosa
came home in fifth. Both drivers were on two stop strategies with Kimi stopping on lap 24 (9.1 seconds) and lap 43 (7.8 seconds) and
Pedro stopping on lap 23 (9.1 seconds) and lap 44 (6.9 seconds). Pedro also achieved the fastest lap of the race with a time of
1:31.447 on lap 43. Kimi is eighth in the 2005 Drivers' World Championship with seven points, whilst Pedro is 11th with four points.
Juan Pablo Montoya, who did not race today due to a fractured shoulder, is now seventh with eight points. West McLaren Mercedes is
third in the Constructors' Championship with 19 points.
Kimi Raikkonen "I am very pleased with third place
after a difficult two qualifying sessions. The car felt really good in the race, but unfortunately I was stuck behind a lot of
traffic early on. I managed to gain a few places, but once I was in third position the front two cars were too far ahead for me to
catch them and in agreement with the team we decided to conserve the engine for Imola."
Pedro de la Rosa "I
had a great time racing today. My lap times were consistently fast when I had a clear track ahead. However most of the race I had
fights with competitors which kept me busy. I gave it my all to win the battles against Takuma Sato, Rubens Barrichello, Jenson
Button and Mark Webber. It was hard work to make my way through the field after a difficult first few laps coming from ninth after
the first lap. I must thank the whole team who have worked so hard to provide me with a car that was both fast and reliable."
Ron
Dennis "A challenging weekend, which, in contrast to Malaysia, allowed us to demonstrate the true potential of our cars.
We are fully aware of what we have to do to improve our qualifying positions and will try hard to accelerate elements of change that
were originally targeted for the Spanish Grand Prix. A great result for both drivers with Kimi achieving a podium position and Pedro
demonstrating the level of professionalism and speed that we have always observed in his testing role. Our goals for 2005 remain
completely unchanged, there are still 16 races to go and everything is still possible."
Norbert Haug "Congratulations
to Kimi for third and Pedro for fifth place. The potential for top results is there, which can be seen from Kimi's podium finish and
Pedro's fastest lap. With better grid positions more will be possible soon. We will continue to work hard to further improve our
package and look forward to the start of the European season in Imola in three weeks time."
West McLaren Mercedes drivers Pedro de la Rosa and Kimi Raikkonen finished today's second
qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix this afternoon in eighth and ninth place respectively with aggregate times of 3:03.373 for
Pedro and 3:03.524 for Kimi.
Pedro Q1:(1:30.725), Q2:(1:32.648) Kimi Q1:(1:30.594), Q2:(1:32.930)
Pedro de la Rosa "The
important thing today was that the conditions on track were much better than yesterday, so I could push the car harder in the
corners. The balance of the car was good despite experiencing slight understeer due to the wind, so now I need to have a solid race
to get a good result."
Kimi Raikkonen "Again the first two sectors were strong, but I lost a lot of grip
in the last sector and the car was sliding a little too much. However I believe we have a competitive package for the race."
Ron
Dennis "A very close grid which should make for an exciting race, where we will see each team's strategy unfold."
Norbert
Haug "Being eighth and ninth on the grid is not where we want to be, but our race speed should be good and there is a
chance that we will look better than in qualifying."
