2008 SPANISH GRAND PRIX
Lewis Hamilton MP4-23 04
Heikki Kovalainen MP4-23 03
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton finished
the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona in third place. After
66 laps (307.104 kms), Lewis came home 4.1 seconds behind
winner Kimi Räikkönen. Lewis’s team mate Heikki
Kovalainen hit the tyre barrier at the Campsa corner on lap
22 and the exact cause of the accident is still to be confirmed.
Lewis was on a two-stop strategy and came in on laps 21 (8.4
seconds) and 47 (7.6 seconds). After the fourth of 18 Grands
Prix, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes is third in the Constructors’
Championship with 34 points; Ferrari took the lead with 47
points ahead of BMW Sauber on 35 points. Lewis moved up to
second in the drivers’ ranking with 20 points; Heikki
is sixth with 14 points. Räikkönen leads with 29
points.
LEWIS HAMILTON
"First of all I am really happy to hear that Heikki is
OK. During the race I saw a car had gone into the barriers
and was told it was Heikki. As soon as the team knew he was
OK, Ron came on the radio and told me which was a great relief.
With regard to the race it’s good to be back on the
podium. After qualifying, we knew it would be a difficult
Grand Prix so I am actually pleased to be third. I made a
good start and was able to get lots of traction and could
go to the right alongside Robert almost immediately. I managed
to overtake him which is usually not easy as I recall from
our battles in Formula 3. I pushed extremely hard, particularly
in the second and third stints and tried to keep up with the
Ferraris. Actually I was pleasantly surprised about how close
the competition at the top was which is great for Formula
1. We did a good job today, but there are areas where we definitely
need to improve, but it’s comforting to know that we
are relatively close to Ferrari. I look forward to the Turkish
Grand Prix where hopefully Heikki will be back in his usual
fine form."
RON DENNIS
"Lewis drove very well to third place today - but for
obvious reasons our main concerns during the race were with
Heikki. I am therefore extremely pleased to be able to report
that he is safe and well. Heikki was airlifted to the Hospital
General de Catalunya in Sant Cugat del Valles, for precautionary
checks, and will remain there overnight. However, he has no
broken bones and CT scans performed at the hospital confirm
that he has no head injuries and the team is optimistic that
he will make a full recovery over the next few days. Subject
to the results of an FIA medical examination we hope that
he will be able to compete in the Turkish Grand Prix. The
precise cause or causes of his accident are not yet known.
Our data shows evidence of a sudden tyre deflation shortly
before the accident, but it is still too early to identify
what triggered that deflation other than to say that it is
likely to have been the result of a wheel rim failure. The
impact was a relatively heavy one, but our car’s passive
safety devices, designed in compliance with the FIA’s
safety regulations, protected the driver in the way they were
intended to do. Equally, I would like to pay tribute to the
FIA Medical Team, whose work was both rapid and efficient.
Finally, the local Spanish marshals also did an excellent
job."
NORBERT HAUG
"According to the circumstances, Heikki is OK, and this
is the most important news today. We all would like to thank
the medical team for their professional actions. Lewis was
competitive and drove a great race with an excellent start.
The drivers in the top three stayed reasonably close together
with a maximum of eight seconds on lap 46 from the restart
after the Safety Car on lap 28 until the finish line on lap
66. We will now work very hard to make a further step forward."
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