Team McLaren Mercedes F1 Race Recap: Melbourne

Posted by www.eMercedesBenz.com on April 3, 2006 at 9:40 AM CST

Welcome back ladies and gentlemen, I hope you all had a great  
weekend.  Unfortunately I've been feeling a little under the weather  
the past couple days, so if my posts seem a bit shorter today, now  
you know my excuse.

In what's becoming somewhat of a tradition on Monday mornings, we'll  
kick things off today with a quick recap of the Melbourne F1 race  
that transpired over the weekend.  As usual, if you have it TIVO'd,  
read no further; otherwise keep reading for the full scoop.

After qualifying in the fourth and the fifth positions, respectively,  
both Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya started the race yesterday  
with a good chance of reaching the podium.

 From the onset of the race, Team McLaren Mercedes looked strong.  By  
the end of the opening lap, Kimi had already worked his way up to the  
third position, with Montoya also working his way up a spot into  
fourth.  On lap 2, during the first of four safety car periods,  
Montoya spun and dropped two spots back to sixth, but by lap 4,  
Montoya had regained his composure, moving his way back up into fourth.

After the second safety car period of the day, Kimi outbraked Jenson  
Button of Honda to move into second position. On lap 18, Montoya made  
his first pit stop of the day, resuming the race in fifth place,  
while Kimi made his first stop on lap 21, resuming the race in  
fourth. Four laps later, Kimi had moved his way back into second,  
with Montoya now holding third.

On lap 34 the third safety car period took place, triggering the  
second round of fueling stops. Due to damage on his right hand front  
wingplate, Kimi's MP4-21 was fitted with a new nose section, a repair  
that resulted in a pit time of 16.7 seconds. Montoya also took his  
turns in the pits behind Kimi, and when the two resumed racing, they  
held the third and sixth spots, respectively.

Unfortunately for Montoya, things were about to take a turn for the  
worst.

At the end of lap 46, Montoya made a mistake, running wide onto the  
last curb.  As a result, the car's engine safety system was  
activated, which caused his engine to shut down and forced Montoya to  
retire early from the race.  Kimi, however, continued racing, setting  
the fastest lap with a time of 1m26.045s and finishing the race 1.8  
seconds behind Renault's Fernando Alonso.

For more info about the Melbourne F1 race including driver and team  
interviews, keep scrolling for the full press release and visit  
www.eMercedesBenz.com to see photos. Enjoy.



OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE


F1 Melbourne: Kimi Räikkönen Second

Melbourne, Apr 02, 2006
The start: Kimi qualified fourth but by the end of the opening lap  
was up to third place. Juan Pablo qualified in fifth place and  
completed the opening lap fourth. On lap two, during the first of  
four safety car periods with a total of ten laps, Juan Pablo spun and  
dropped to sixth.
The race: On lap four, Montoya overtook Ralf Schumacher (Toyota), one  
lap later he passed Mark Webber (Williams) and was now in fourth  
place. After the second safety car period Kimi outbraked Jenson  
Button (Honda) and was second. Juan Pablo came in on lap 18 for his  
first refuelling stop (9.4sec) and resumed in fifth place while Kimi  
made his first stop on lap 21 (9.4sec) and dropped to fourth. Four  
laps later Kimi had moved up to second again with Juan Pablo in third.

Another safety car period on lap 34 triggered the second round of  
refuelling stops. Kimi was stationary for 16.7sec stop because a new  
nose section was fitted after the right hand front wing endplate had  
been damaged. Montoya followed him in for his second stop (11.3sec)  
and they resumed with Kimi third and Juan Pablo sixth. At the end of  
lap 46 Juan Pablo ran wide onto the kerb at the last corner and the  
impact activated the engine’s safety system which shut down his  
engine, so he was forced to retire. Kimi set the fastest lap in  
1m26.045s and finished second 1.8sec behind Alonso at the finish.

Kimi Räikkönen: "Despite not winning I'm really pleased as we now  
have a package which is level with the Renaults which I think we  
demonstrated today. The race was rather hectic. I enjoyed a good  
battle with Juan Pablo at the start, but when I overtook Jenson I  
flatspotted my right front tyre which caused some vibration. However  
I was still able to go flat out and keep up with Fernando, but then  
all of a sudden the footplate on the right hand side of my front wing  
fractured probably due to the vibration. As a result I started to  
have severe understeer and lost a lot of time to Fernando.  
Fortunately with 21 laps to go the Safety Car came out which gave us  
enough time to go into the pits and change the front wing. I was  
really pushing, but in the final Safety Car period one of the Midland  
cars was between Fernando and I, which meant I was unable to get  
really close to have a go. An enjoyable race and I can't wait for  
Imola. The team has definitely made great progress with our entire  
package."

Juan Pablo Montoya: "There was a lot going on in the race today. As  
we were lining up on the grid I made a mistake and spun the car.  
Fortunately the start was aborted, and I was able to take up my  
original start position in fifth spot. However during the first  
Safety Car period I had another spin which cost me two positions.  
Overall I found it rather challenging getting the grip into the tyres  
today and the four Safety Car periods didn’t make it easier. I think  
I could have finished on the podium, but as I was pushing to get past  
Ralf I hit the kerb at the start of the straight and went into a bit  
of a wobble but managed to save it. Unfortunately the impact  
activated a default system which switched off the engine and that was  
the end of my race. It’s a real shame as our package felt fantastic  
throughout the weekend. We can definitely go into the start of the  
European season with lots of confidence."

Ron Dennis, Team Principal:  “The early part of the race was exciting  
as once Kimi was past Button, he had the pace to catch Fernando. Juan  
Pablo's retirement was caused by the activation of the engine safety  
system following a severe impact on the kerb clearly costing him  
third place. Kimi's race was disrupted by a flatspotted tyre obtained  
whilst passing Button resulting in severe vibration that led to a  
failure of the right hand front wing endplate. Towards the end of the  
race we took advantage of one of the Safety Car deployments to change  
the nose which gave Kimi the ability to close the gap to Fernando. It  
was also disappointing that both Kimi and Juan Pablo were trapped  
behind slower cars in two of the re-starts but at the end of the day  
we have the pace to win and this time last year our points deficit  
was significantly greater. As a team we look forward to returning to  
Europe and continuing the battle."

Norbert Haug, Vice President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport:  "Kimi gave it  
his all. Unfortunately he was hampered by a flatspotted tyre and a  
damaged part of the front wing. Once the nose was changed he  
demonstrated good speed. Juan Pablo hit a kerb too hard which caused  
his retirement. Our technical package is on a good level both with  
regards to speed and reliability, and now we have to improve our  
performance further during the next few races."

For more Mercedes-Benz news and information, visit  
www.eMercedesBenz.com.