CANADIAN GRAND PRIX
Montreal, Sunday 25th June 2006
Kimi Raikkonen MP4-21 03
Juan Pablo Montoya MP4-21 05
T-car (Kimi) MP4-21 04
Team McLaren Mercedes driver Kimi Raikkonen finished today's
70-laps Canadian Grand Prix in third position. Kimi was on
a two-stop strategy and pitted on laps 25 (12.6 seconds) and
53 (14.6 seconds) – both stops taking longer than planned
due to a dragging clutch. Until the penultimate lap Kimi was
second but whilst pushing hard to catch eventual race winner
Fernando Alonso he made a mistake at the hairpin. Kimi set
the fastest time of the race on lap 21 with 1:15.841. Team
mate Juan Pablo Montoya failed to finish the race when he
was forced to retire at the end of lap 12 after his car touched
one of the walls as he was fighting to make up the positions
he lost following an incident with Nico Rosberg on lap two.
The incident with Rosberg caused the Mercedes-Benz Safety
Car to be deployed and Juan Pablo went into the pits to change
the nose of his car (26.4 seconds). Following today's result
Kimi remains third in the Drivers' World Championship with
39 points and Juan Pablo is sixth with 26 points. Team McLaren
Mercedes stays third in the Constructors' ranking with 65
points.
KIMI RAIKKONEN
"That was not an easy race. I was really pushing Fernando
for the lead in the opening part and was able to have a go
at the hairpin when he went wide, but it was not to be. We
had some problems with the clutch in both pitstops which hampered
our chance of victory. Traffic didn't make things easier and
at the end I was in second. However then the Safety Car came
back out and I was pushing to see if there was a chance of
catching Fernando, but went wide at the hairpin which allowed
Michael past. That was a shame but we always want to do everything
we can to win. We can leave Montreal knowing that we are competitive
and I look forward to Indianapolis."
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA
"That was a bit of a mess. I was battling with Nico Rosberg
in the opening laps and was next to him, but then we touched.
I thought I had damaged the nose and as the Safety Car came
out I went into the pits. The team did a precautionary tyre
change and changed my race strategy to give me the best chance
of a strong finishing position. I had a good battle with DC
and then with Ralf and was making progress. The car was great,
but I was sliding quite a bit as I had lost a deflector and
consequently was a bit light on downforce. I was trying to
make up positions, but then I touched the wall and damaged
the rear and that was the end of the race for me. It was a
shame as I think we would have been competitive, but the incident
with Rosberg really ruined things for me. There is no point
in saying who is to blame. I now look forward to Indianapolis
where hopefully our competitiveness will continue to improve."
RON DENNIS
"The earlier stops of the Renaults show that our qualifying
and race competitiveness have clearly improved. We lost second
place after Kimi made a small mistake when pushing to catch
Fernando. However we are about winning and these things happen
when you are pushing. There were some problems with the clutch
in both of Kimi's stops which cost us time, but I think we
have demonstrated that we are competitive and can challenge
for victories. Juan Pablo didn't get the opportunity to show
his potential due to the incident with Rosberg. The entire
team is now looking forward to the race next weekend in USA
where we want to continue working hard to win."
NORBERT HAUG
"The race result doesn't reflect our speed which looked
competitive today. Unfortunately Kimi lost time during his
pit stops due to a clutch problem which we will certainly
have under control at the next race. However on the track
he performed well and posted the fastest lap of the race.
Kimi was pushing to have a go on Fernando after the Safety
Car, but ran wide and lost second place on the penultimate
lap. Juan Pablo had a good start but lost his chances for
a result already on the second lap after the incident with
Nico Rosberg. The upside of this weekend was our speed, the
downside was that we could not make more out of it –
next weekend we have another possibility."
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