2006 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX PREVIEW
 Formula
1 heads to the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway this
week for Sunday's United States Grand Prix, round 10 of the
2006 FIA Formula 1 World Championship.
The United States Grand Prix has taken place at seven different
tracks, Sebring, Riverside, Watkins Glen, Long Beach, Detroit,
Dallas and Phoenix before relocating to Indianapolis in 2000
after a gap from the calendar of nine years.
The Motor Speedway is located 8km north west of Indianapolis
and was built in the early 20th century as a test track for
the motor industry in Detroit. The circuit was paved with
bricks when it became a race track shortly after. Then in
the forties the track was asphalted, except a yard of bricks
at the start-finish line, giving rise to the 'Brickyard' nickname.
Team McLaren Mercedes took victory in 2001 with Mika Hakkinen,
the last win the Finnish double World Champion secured for
the team before his retirement from Formula 1.
The McLaren name has a successful history in America, beginning
in 1959 when founder Bruce won the inaugural United States
Grand Prix at the Sebring, four years before he formed the
McLaren team. Since the team's United States Formula 1 debut
in 1966, McLaren has been the most successful Formula 1 Constructor,
with nine race victories.
The McLaren marque has also seen success in other American
motorsport events. In the late 60s, McLaren dominated the
CAN-AM championship, winning the title on TBC occasions. In
addition the team has won the illustrious Indianapolis 500
three time, in 1972 with Mark Donohue and Johnny Rutherford
taking victory twice, in 1974 and 1976.
KIMI RAIKKONEN
"At Montreal, we were able to show the step forward we
have made with the MP4-21 and hopefully this week in America
we will be able to challenge for the top step of the podium.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a great venue, and it is
one of those everyone wants to say they have won at. The fans
are also great, they are real petrol heads and I hope we can
put on a good race for them this year. The track is all about
compromise and is tough on all elements of the car. It is
another fast track, like the past two of Silverstone and Montreal.
Set-up wise the United States Grand Prix is more similar to
Montreal as you have the long straight and slow corners, but
you do have to allow for the slower infield section also.
You can really challenge for position here, for sure the best
opportunity is slipstreaming along the straight section of
the oval and pass under braking at the right hander that takes
you back into the infield. It also helps that the track is
so wide here."
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA
"After my race in Canada, I cannot wait to get straight
back on track this weekend, as the car felt really quick.
It is even better for me that we are at Indy this race and
competing for the fans, who are amazing and I personally have
awesome support from Colombia, so I am looking forward to
getting out there and putting on a fantastic show for them.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has such great memories for
me from my days in CART and of course winning the Indy 500
in 2000, it is such a special venue, full of history and legend.
The nature of the track, with the immense straight along the
oval and the tight infield sees us use a medium to low downforce
configuration to allow for the contrast in track style. The
1.7km section of the banked oval we use is the longest stretch
we have at full throttle all season, it is pretty good fun
as by the time you get to the end of the straight you really
feel like you are going super fast because of the length of
time!"
MARTIN WHITMARSH, CEO FORMULA ONE, TEAM McLAREN MERCEDES
"It was clear in Montreal that we are reducing the gap
to the Renault as we continue to develop the pace of the MP4-21.
We still have work to do, however we demonstrated we can challenge
for victories and that is what we intend to do this weekend.
Everyone at Team McLaren Mercedes is looking forward to returning
to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this week. It is a great
track and vital for Formula 1 to race at, not only because
we need tracks that create exciting racing, bit it also allows
us to call the sport a true world championship. Formula 1
knows we have to put on a great race this weekend and Team
McLaren Mercedes are looking to be a strong part of that."
NORBERT HAUG, VICE PRESIDENT, MERCEDES-BENZ MOTORSPORT
"Since 2000 Indianapolis has been on the Formula One
calendar, so in 2006 the race will take place for the seventh
time. As everybody is aware of, the sixth event did not go
according to the plans of Formula One and it wants to show
the spectators a first-class race this year and our team is
keen on contributing their part. The track layout is challenging
and the sector with 22 seconds of consecutive full throttle
is extremely demanding for the engines. The task for the infield
is exactly the opposite and to be fast you need a good compromise
between top speed and good balance in corners. The race in
Indianapolis is one of the most important ones on the calendar
and is in the biggest market for Mercedes-Benz outside Germany.
There we want to continue our positive trend of the last races.”
USEFUL STATISTICS
United States Grand Prix McLaren Team McLaren Mercedes Kimi
Juan Pablo
Circuit length 4.192 km Race starts 605 195 96 94
2.605 miles Race wins 148 44 9 7
Race distance 306.016 km Pole Positions 122 43 9 12
190.139 miles Points 3106.5 1199 320 307
Laps 73 Podiums 390 137 34 29
Inaugural race 1959 Fastest Laps 129 59 18 12
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