Bahrain International Circuit,
Kimi Raikkonen MP4-21 02
Juan Pablo Montoya MP4-21 03
T-car MP4-21 01
BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX RACE
Today's season opening race in Bahrain saw Team McLaren Mercedes
drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya finish in third
and fifth place respectively. Kimi was on a one-stop strategy
after starting from the back of the grid, coming in on lap
30 (11 seconds), whilst Juan Pablo stopped twice on laps 23
(8.8 seconds) and 44 (6.9 seconds). Kimi is third in the driver's
standings with six points and Juan Pablo is fifth with four.
Team McLaren Mercedes is joint first with Renault in the Constructors'
rankings with 10 points apiece.
KIMI RAIKKONEN
“This is a great result after the disappointment of
yesterday, but we have known that the car was very strong
all weekend. We thought that we had a chance to score some
points today, even though we were starting from the back of
the grid, but to get a podium is fantastic, The first few
laps were crucial to this result, and luckily I managed to
overtake a lot of cars at the first corner; I was up to 13th
by lap two even though the cars in front were all lighter
than me. We then gained some more places later on as a result
of our strategy. The outcome is even more important to the
whole team, who have been working so hard throughout the winter,
as we didn't know where we were after testing and everyone
had been saying that we were struggling. However we really
have improved over the past few weeks. It proves that we are
competitive and if not for yesterday we could have been even
better.”
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA
“I have not really been totally comfortable with the
set up of my car all weekend, which was clear during all the
practice sessions. Obviously I am a little disappointed finishing
in fifth as I know that the car could do so much more, but
it just wasn't working for me this weekend. However it was
a steady race and for the team to get two cars finishing in
the points could be very important later in the season. The
four points I have scored are good considering the circumstances.
I am now looking forward to the next race in Malaysia, where
we can improve further on these results."
RON DENNIS
“A difficult weekend which stretched the whole team.
The results are therefore just reward for their efforts. We
are all looking forward to Malaysia where our justifiable
expectation is to do better.”
NORBERT HAUG
“Kimi's performance was excellent coming from last place
on the grid to finish third on the podium. Kimi was fighting
all the way through the race and our one-stop strategy was
ideal and helped to make this result possible. With his third
place and Juan Pablo's fifth we have gained 10 points and
are together with Williams Cosworth the only team which has
finished with two cars in the points. So we are heading in
the right direction. I want to thank the team for all their
efforts following yesterday's problem. We are looking forward
to next week's Malaysian Grand Prix.”
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