3 July: French Grand Prix - Race Report - McLaren Mercedes
Team McLaren Mercedes driver Kimi Raikkonen claimed second place in today's French Grand Prix, having worked his way up the field
from 13th. The Finn also set the fastest lap of the race with a time of 1:16.423. Juan Pablo Montoya was forced to retire with a
hydraulic failure caused by a fractured supply pipe on lap 46 whilst lying in third place. Both drivers were on two-stop strategies
and came in for their stops on laps 29 (8.8 seconds), 56 (5.8 seconds) for Kimi and 26 (8.8 seconds) for Juan Pablo. Kimi Raikkonen
remains second in the Drivers World Championship with 45 points whilst Juan Pablo is 11th with 16 points. Team McLaren Mercedes
remains second in the Constructors' battle with 71 points.
KIMI RAIKKONEN "Considering where we started I'm
pleased with today's result as I only suffered minimum damage in my World Championship battle. The car was working well, and if I
could have started third, which is where my actual qualifying time would have put me, I could definitely have won the race. Our
strategists got things right and it was an interesting race. I suffered a bit from traffic and lost too much time early on working
my way through the field. When I had clear air it really was too late to make any significant impact on the gap to Alonso. Hopefully
everything will work out well for us at Silverstone in a few days, and I can do what Alonso did today which is winning in front of
lots of supporters."
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA "I was really enjoying this race, and am disappointed to retire. I
started to lose the power steering and then the gears which is what happens with a hydraulic failure so there was nothing I could
do. We were on the right strategy and the car is simply unbelievable which makes it even harder to retire. I was on a different tyre
to Kimi so it took a bit longer to get them warm, but I think that could have paid off towards the end of the race. I was stuck in a
lot of traffic, but as soon as I was in free air I was able to close the gap and was really looking forward to being back on the
podium. Obviously it means that once again I will have to start my qualifying run early at Silverstone but I'm getting used to it
and anything can happen, so I look forward to the British Grand Prix because I'm sure a race win is just around the corner."
RON
DENNIS "Kimi's race from 13th on the grid was complimented by an excellent strategy, and the resulting second place was
a good reward for the efforts from the entire team. Juan Pablo's first retirement of the year was as frustrating for us as it was
for him especially since a podium finish was a certainty. It is clear to everybody that we have a very competitive car and of course
we are already looking forward to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone next week."
NORBERT HAUG "An
excellent drive by Kimi. Coming from 13th to finish second showed that the speed was there and that he was on the right strategy.
Unfortunately Juan Pablo had to retire due to a hydraulics failure, which we will investigate, otherwise he would have been on the
podium as well doing comparable times to Kimi. We now look forward to the next Grand Prix at Silverstone where, with the performance
of today, we have a good chance."
