03/04/2005
NEWS STORY
West McLaren Mercedes driver Kimi Raikkonen finished today's 57 lap Bahrain Grand Prix in third place. Team mate Pedro de la Rosa came home in fifth. Both drivers were on two stop strategies with Kimi stopping on lap 24 (9.1 seconds) and lap 43 (7.8 seconds) and Pedro stopping on lap 23 (9.1 seconds) and lap 44 (6.9 seconds). Pedro also achieved the fastest lap of the race with a time of 1:31.447 on lap 43. Kimi is eighth in the 2005 Drivers' World Championship with seven points, whilst Pedro is 11th with four points. Juan Pablo Montoya, who did not race today due to a fractured shoulder, is now seventh with eight points. West McLaren Mercedes is third in the Constructors' Championship with 19 points.
Kimi Raikkonen: "I am very pleased with third place after a difficult two qualifying sessions. The car felt really good in the race, but unfortunately I was stuck behind a lot of traffic early on. I managed to gain a few places, but once I was in third position the front two cars were too far ahead for me to catch them and in agreement with the team we decided to conserve the engine for Imola."
Pedro de la Rosa: "I had a great time racing today. My lap times were consistently fast when I had a clear track ahead. However most of the race I had fights with competitors which kept me busy. I gave it my all to win the battles against Takuma Sato, Rubens Barrichello, Jenson Button and Mark Webber. It was hard work to make my way through the field after a difficult first few laps coming from ninth after the first lap. I must thank the whole team who have worked so hard to provide me with a car that was both fast and reliable."
Ron Dennis: "A challenging weekend, which, in contrast to Malaysia, allowed us to demonstrate the true potential of our cars. We are fully aware of what we have to do to improve our qualifying positions and will try hard to accelerate elements of change that were originally targeted for the Spanish Grand Prix. A great result for both drivers with Kimi achieving a podium position and Pedro demonstrating the level of professionalism and speed that we have always observed in his testing role. Our goals for 2005 remain completely unchanged, there are still 16 races to go and everything is still possible."
Norbert Haug: "Congratulations to Kimi for third and Pedro for fifth place. The potential for top results is there, which can be seen from Kimi's podium finish and Pedro's fastest lap. With better grid positions more will be possible soon. We will continue to work hard to further improve our package and look forward to the start of the European season in Imola in three weeks time."