Sepang, race day
Kimi Raikkonen MP4-21 02
Juan Pablo Montoya MP4-21 03
T-car MP4-21 01 (Kimi)
MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX RACE
Team McLaren Mercedes driver Juan Pablo Montoya finished
today's 56 lap Malaysian Grand Prix in fourth place. Juan
Pablo was on a two-stop strategy coming in on laps 23 (8.3
seconds) and 42 (7.0 seconds). Kimi Raikkonen was hit by Christian
Klien's Red Bull on the opening lap of the race which damaged
his rear suspension and caused him to retire. Track conditions
were very warm with air temperatures reaching 33 degrees centigrade,
track temperatures at 37 degrees and 62% humidity. Juan Pablo
remains fifth in the Drivers' standings with nine points and
Kimi is sixth with six. Team McLaren Mercedes is joint second
with Ferrari in the Constructors' Championship with a total
of 15 points.
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA
“The car was good today and I think we had a solid race.
We lost a lot of time in the first stint as my front tyres
were graining, but as soon as we changed the tyres the car
came back to life and if you look at my pace against Jenson
Button later on it was pretty much the same. With the hot
temperatures here we did have to look after the engine, which
means that we had to sacrifice downforce, so finishing fourth
is encouraging. We have scored some more points for the team
and I think we look strong going into the next race.”
KIMI RAIKKONEN
“I am very disappointed because I had a great car set-up
and very good race strategy. I think it was fairly obvious
that Christian Klien made a pretty fundamental mistake and
ran into the back of me at turn five, breaking my rear suspension
in the process. A positive side, the team has had good race
reliability in the first two races and I am already looking
forward to Melbourne in two weeks."
RON DENNIS
“Kimi being taken out in the first lap and Juan Pablo's
first stint tyre graining problems masked our true competitiveness.
We also had to sacrifice some downforce to improve the cooling
efficiency of the car. The whole team is looking forward to
the scheduled improvements to both the car and engine, which
should make us even more competitive in two weeks time. Unlike
many teams, we have enjoyed good engine reliability which
also supports our positive expectations for Melbourne.”
NORBERT HAUG
“Kimi was pushed out in the opening lap and we missed
him a lot in this race. Our reliability was there and Juan
Pablo drove a solid race. I would like to thank everybody
in the team in Woking, Brixworth and Stuttgart for all their
efforts over the last busy month to create this level. Our
engines ran fine in both races within a week's time. We have
a solid basis, however we definitely want to do better and
we will continue to work hard."
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