British Grand Prix – Silverstone
Kimi Raikkonen: 1st 1:21.43.074 59 laps chassis 262
Felipe Massa: 5th +54.063 59 laps chassis 260
Weather: air temperature 20 °C, track temperature 31/32
°C, partly cloudy.
Fifth win of the season for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, the
third for Kimi Raikkonen. This was Kimi’s twelfth win
from 114 Grand Prix starts, handing Ferrari its 197th victory
in 750 races and its fifteenth in the British Grand Prix.
Jean Todt: “Kimi was simply majestic, from the first
to the last lap, to produce our fifth win of the season, his
second in a row and his third with Ferrari. Felipe drove an
extraordinary race but was penalized with a technical problem
at the start, which meant he had to start the race from the
pit lane. Considering this handicap, finishing fifth is really
impressive. On the one hand we are happy with the win, obtained
on what is the home track for our main rivals, but on the
other hand we have had yet another confirmation that in this
season, our Achilles heel is reliability. Once again today
we lost precious points, which has prevented us from making
up ground in the Constructors’ classification even if
we have the best package on track. We have to work on pushing
hard with our performance development so as to regain the
maximum level of reliability. In order to succeed, we need
the support of all our technical partners, starting with Shell,
who are doing an excellent job. We will leave nothing to chance
in our bid to continue this winning streak.”
Kimi Raikkonen: “It was a great race
for me. After my mistake in qualifying yesterday I was very
disappointed, but today I was able to make up for it. If I
had managed to start from pole though, things would have been
much easier. The car worked very well both on the soft and
harder tyres. We were strong all weekend and I hope this trend
continues over the coming races, but I know how difficult
that will be. In the first stint, I tried to look after my
tyres and save fuel. At one point I got very close to Lewis
but I didn’t want to take any risks hoping he would
pit before me. In the second part, I knew Alonso was on a
different strategy and would stop before me. I had to stay
in touch and then push at the decisive moment. I am very happy.
We have made up ground in the Drivers’ championship
and there is plenty of the season still to go. We must continue
to push on the development of the car and we are working in
the right direction.”
Felipe Massa: “All things considered,
I am happy with what I achieved today. It’s clear I
could have had a very different race without the problem at
the start, but racing is like that. Sometimes everything goes
your way and other times, unexpected things shatter all your
plans and you have to try and make the best of the situation.
At the start, the engine died, but I have not realized yet
what had happened. It’s a shame because I had a great
car today and this will be a race I will remember. Of course
I am disappointed at having lost points in the classification
but that’s life and we have to accept what happened.
In the final stint of the race I quickly caught up with Kubica
and I was sure I could pass him. But when I was in his slipstream
I was losing so much downforce and I could not get close enough.
I hope things come good in the European Grand Prix: we will
have to get both our cars ahead of the McLarens.”
Luca Baldisserri: “A great race,
great drivers, a great car! Even if unfortunately we suffered
a problem with Felipe’s car, the cause of which we have
yet to find, that stopped us from repeating our Magny-Cours
result. The strategy chosen for Kimi worked perfectly, putting
him where he had to be to win the race. We must continue to
work with the same intensity both to increase our performance
level as well as improving our reliability. Already, as from
the day after tomorrow, we will be back on track in a test
session at the Spa Francorchamps circuit. We will have new
parts to try because if we want to reach our goals we must
leave nothing to chance.”
|
