04/07/2004
NEWS STORY
David Coulthard and Kimi Raikkonen finished the 70-lap Mobil 1 French Grand Prix in fifth and sixth place respectively scoring a total of five points for Team McLaren Mercedes. Kimi also set the third fastest lap of the race with 1:15.791. Both drivers were on a three-stop-strategy with David stopping on laps 12 (7.78 seconds), 29 (8.8 seconds) and 48 (8.4 seconds) whilst Kimi came in on lap 11 (6.87 seconds), 28 (8.5 seconds) and 47 (9.3 seconds). David is now eighth in the Drivers' Championship with 12 points and Kimi 10th with 10 points. Team McLaren Mercedes holds fifth position in the Constructors' rankings.
David Coulthard: "At the start I lost two positions to be fifth after the first corner. This was a shame as the race showed that both Kimi and I were able to have the same speed as the three cars ahead of me who were fighting for third. I lost some grip during the middle of the race and had a few problems with traffic. However an encouraging and reliable race debut for the 19B and I'm looking forward to my home grand prix at Silverstone next weekend and the
rest of the season."
Kimi Raikkonen: "It's always difficult starting from ninth, and I think if I had not messed up in qualifying yesterday we would have done much better. I made a good start and gained two places but it was not enough. The speed of the 19B is good, and I'm confident for the rest of the season particularly as we have further developments coming."
Ron Dennis: "It might not be apparent from our finishing positions but the MP4-19B is definitely a significant step in the right direction. We don't know why David lost two positions at the start, but that definitely penalised his race and allowed the leaders to get away. There will be continuous development on the 19B for the rest of the season, and we should be able to improve further for McLaren's home race next weekend."
Norbert Haug: "We had the speed for third place today but David lost two positions at the start whilst Kimi gained two. The competition between the Michelin teams has increased which can be seen from today's laptimes. The race's laptimes also showed that we have improved our performance, and we are pleased that both MP4-19Bs ran reliably during their race debut. We will now continue to
further improve our package."