F1 Magny-Cours: Kimi Räikkönen Second

Magny-Cours, Jul 03, 2005 The start: From his eighth place on the grid Juan Pablo completed the opening lap in seventh place. Kimi, who was third in qualifying one and a half tenths of a second away from pole position, moved up to 11th by the end of the opening lap and on the second lap overtook Jacques Villeneuve (Sauber Petronas) to take tenth position.

The race: Kimi and Juan Pablo planned only two refuelling stops and therefore started the race with a heavy fuel load in both their cars. When the other drivers made their first round of refuelling stops between lap 13 and 21, Juan Pablo was able to stay out until lap 26 before making his own first stop. He came in from second place to make an 8.8sec stop and resumed in third position. On the same lap Kimi recorded the fastest lap of the race in 1m 16.423s. The Finn made his first stop from second position on lap 29, also in 8.8sec, and went back into the race in the same position. On lap 42, due to a hydraulic problem, caused by a fractured supply pipe, Juan Pablo slowed down and eventually retired on lap 47. Kimi made his second stop from second place on lap 56 (5.8sec). He remained in second place and completed the 70 lap race 11.8sec behind winner Alonso.

Comments

Kimi Räikkönen: "Considering where we started I'm pleased with today's result as I only suffered minimum damage in my World Championship battle. The car was working well, and if I could have started third, which is where my actual qualifying time would have put me, I could definitely have won the race. Our strategists got things right and it was an interesting race. I suffered a bit from traffic and lost too much time early on working my way through the field. When I had clear air it really was too late to make any significant impact on the gap to Alonso. Hopefully everything will work out well for us at Silverstone in a few days, and I can do what Alonso did today which is winning in front of lots of supporters."

Juan Pablo Montoya: "I was really enjoying this race, and am disappointed to retire. I started to lose the power steering and then the gears which is what happens with a hydraulic failure so there was nothing I could do. We were on the right strategy and the car is simply unbelievable which makes it even harder to retire. I was on a different tyre to Kimi so it took a bit longer to get them warm, but I think that could have paid off towards the end of the race. I was stuck in a lot of traffic, but as soon as I was in free air I was able to close the gap and was really looking forward to being back on the podium. Obviously it means that once again I will have to start my qualifying run early at Silverstone but I'm getting used to it and anything can happen, so I look forward to the British Grand Prix."

Ron Dennis, Team Principal: "Kimi's race from 13th on the grid was complimented by an excellent strategy, and the resulting second place was a good reward for the efforts from the entire team. Juan Pablo's first retirement of the year was as frustrating for us as it was for him especially since a podium finish was a certainty. It is clear to everybody that we have a very competitive car and of course we are already looking forward to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone next week."

Norbert Haug, Vice President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport:

"An excellent drive by Kimi. Coming from 13th to finish second showed that the speed was there and that he was on the right strategy. Unfortunately Juan Pablo had to retire due to a hydraulics failure, which we will investigate; otherwise he would have been on the podium as well doing comparable times to Kimi. We now look forward to the next Grand Prix at Silverstone where, with the performance of today, we have a good chance."