Team McLaren Mercedes F1 Race Recap: Japan

Posted by www.eMercedesBenz.com on October 9th, 2006 
Welcome back ladies and gentlemen; I hope your weekends were all as  
fanatastic as mine was.  To kick things off this blissful October  
morning, we have a recap of a race that transpired over the weekend -  
the Japanese Grand Prix.

As usual, if you have it TIVO'd and plan on catching it later, read  
no further; otherwise, keep reading for a quick recap.

In qualifying, the team performed poorly, with drivers Kimi Raikkonen  
and Pedro de la Rosa starting a dismal 11th and 13th, respectively.

 From the onset of the race, looked somewhat more optimistic with  
Kimi managing to work his way up into ninth by the end of the opening  
lap.  As the race progressed, both drivers continued to improve, with  
de la Rosa holding 12th when he made his first refueling stop on lap  
20 and Kimi holding fourth on lap 22 when he too entered the pits for  
the first time.

After resuming in thirteenth and eight place, respectively, de la  
Rosa and Kimi sojourned on, with Pedro entering the pits for the  
second time on lap 40 and resuming the race in eleventh. Meanwhile,  
Kimi entered the pits for the second time on lap 41, resuming the  
race in fifth.

After 53 laps, both drivers completed the race, each holding their  
respective positions of eleventh and fifth place.  Renault's Fernando  
Alonso managed to win the race, capturing his seventh win of the  
season, while Ferrari's Felipe Massa and Renault's Giancarlo  
Fisichella took the second and third finishing spots.

For more info including team and driver interviews, visit  
www.eMercedesBenz.com for the official press release.