08/05/2005
NEWS STORY
West McLaren Mercedes driver Kimi Raikkonen took a dominant victory in today's 66-lap Spanish Grand Prix from pole position. The Finn claimed his third Formula One victory never losing the lead and at the end he crossed the finishing line 27.652 seconds ahead of current Championship leader Fernando Alonso. Team mate Juan Pablo Montoya finished seventh after a two race absence due to an injured shoulder. The Colombian was forced to make an additional pitstop when the fuel rig malfunctioned during his first scheduled stop on lap 30 (4.246 seconds) and he came in the following lap (10.019 seconds) and on lap 56 (4.711 seconds). Kimi came in for fuel on laps 24 (8.250 seconds) and 49 (6.786 seconds). Kimi has moved up to third in the Drivers' World Championship with 17 points whilst Juan Pablo is eighth with 10 points. West McLaren Mercedes is third in the Constructors standings with 37 points, now only three points away from second.
Kimi Raikkonen: "We have been close to victory a few times and today it finally happened. The car has been working perfectly throughout the weekend and we knew we had a good chance to win. A lot of effort has gone into this from the team and all our Partners and I would like to thank everybody. If we can continue to show performance like the one today we still have a good chance of fighting for the World Championships. We have a competitive package and until Imola we were extremely reliable so anything can happen. I made a clean start from pole and was pushing really hard until the first pitstop when I saw how big the gap actually was. There was a small scare as I pulled away from my first stop because the engine did not pick up but it soon rectified itself and then I just took it easy during my second stop. All in all a great weekend!"
Juan Pablo Montoya: "The car was working well throughout but we had not achieved the optimum set-up so I was struggling a bit with understeer to start with. I spun 360 degrees in turn eight on lap seven and lost some time. Obviously the problem in my first stop cost me some time but all in all I'm OK with the result today considering everything that has happened. My shoulder was good but it was tough particularly at turns three and nine and the last two corners where you pull a lot of Gs. At least I'm not going to be starting the first qualifying session in Monaco first, which is a definite advantage."
Roy Dennis: "A tremendous race for the team and a truly dominant performance by Kimi. His only problem was to find the discipline to actually slow down, once he had established a significant lead. Juan Pablo's race could have been so much better but an electrical problem which activated the safety system on the fuel rig almost certainly cost him a podium finish. Throughout the race, the performance of the Michelin tyres on both cars was great and certainly contributed a significant amount to the outcome."
Norbert Haug: "I would like to thank the entire team for a perfect job. Everybody has worked extremely hard to make this victory happen. I am really pleased for Kimi. He performed impressively by leading the race throughout from start to finish. Juan Pablo had the chance for a better result. However due to a problem with the fuel rig at his first pitstop he had to come in one more time. But again; great result, a baseline on which we can build."