10/07/2004
NEWS STORY
Team McLaren Mercedes driver Kimi Raikkonen will start tomorrow's British Grand Prix from pole position after setting a time of 1:18.233. This is Kimi's third career pole position and the first for Team McLaren Mercedes this season. David Coulthard completed his lap in 1:19.148, and he will start the race from sixth position on the grid.
Kimi Raikkonen: "We ran the MP4-19B for the first time during a test here at Silverstone six weeks ago and the car has continued to improve and now it has started to show its real potential. The balance has been very good throughout the weekend, and we should have a strong car for tomorrow's race. We have had a disappointing first half of this season, but the entire team has worked extremely hard to regain competitiveness. This pole position is a reward for all their efforts and late nights."
David Coulthard: "It was not an easy qualifying due to the windy conditions. I lost a lot of time through Becketts and as a result I was not quick in the middle sector. We have chosen the right tyres, but as this is a high-speed circuit where you need a good result in qualifying and I'm a little disappointed with my performance. However, I will go flat out tomorrow and do my very best to score as many points a possible."
Ron Dennis: "It goes without saying that we are delighted with Kimi's pole position and the fact that both drivers have been consistently quick in all practice sessions. Today's result is such a nice reward for everybody in the team who has worked so hard to re-establish our competitiveness in the critical areas of chassis and engine. As you would expect we will now focus on the race tomorrow."
Norbert Haug: "A perfect outcome of today's qualifying with Kimi's pole position. He was really quick in the second and third sectors, which was where he secured his pole. We knew that we had worked in the right direction, but we couldn't expect to come out fastest today. I want to thank Kimi and the whole team for all their efforts to make our technical package much more competitive than it was a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately David didn't find the perfect setup, but to start from the third row is still a good basis for the race".