March 8, 2004

David Coulthard Sixth
Kimi Räikkönen retires with transmission failure

West McLaren Mercedes driver David Coulthard finished sixth in the Malaysian Grand Prix at Kuala Lumpur. His team-mate Kimi Raikkonen retired at the beginning of lap 41 of the 56 lap race with a transmission failure. Michael Schumacher's Ferrari took victory. After two of the 18 rounds in the 2004 Formula 1 World Championship David is eighth in the drivers' points standings with four points, 16 behind Michael Schumacher who leads the contest. West McLaren Mercedes is fifth in the Constructors' World Championship with four points.

MP4-19 03: David MP4-19 04: Kimi

The start:

Kimi climbed from fifth on the grid to fourth going into the first corner, while David, having qualified ninth, improved two places to complete the opening lap in seventh.

The race:

Kimi overtook Rubens Barrichello's Ferrari on lap two to take third place. David came in for his first of three refuelling stops on lap nine (6.93sec) and retained seventh place when he went back into the race. Kimi pitted one lap later (7.25sec) and held onto his third position. At the beginning of lap 24 David was overtaken by Fernando Alonso's Renault but when both came together for their seconds stops at the end of this lap, David retook the position after his pit crew had refuelled in 7.9sec. Kimi stopped for the second time on lap 25(9.15sec) and was back fourth by lap 28 after this round of refuelling stops was complete. On lap 38 David came in for his third and final stop in 9.4sec and remained seventh. Kimi came in two laps later for an 8.57sec stop, but shortly after he had resumed he retired with a transmission failure. David finished the race in sixth place.

Comments

David Coulthard: "We can take some satisfaction from the fact that we have improved our package since Melbourne, but we still have some way to go. I made a good start, gained a few places and got involved in some exciting battles. I found it difficult to hold the car in the fast corners and at one point had a moment where I nearly lost it, but managed to stay on track. Sixth place is not brilliant, but at least we have improved."

Kimi Räikkönen: "It's never nice not to finish a race, not only for me, but also for the team. However while we need to become more competitive, at least we have taken a step in the right direction. We were close to getting on the podium today, but in my second stop we struggled to get the fuel nozzle to come off so we lost important time to BAR and Jenson Button could take third. A few laps later something broke in my transmission."

Ron Dennis, Team Principal: "Despite Kimi's transmission failure and David's difficult race, we have increased the competitiveness of the car and the team as a whole since Melbourne. Our intensive test and development programme will continue in the run-up to Bahrain."

Norbert Haug, Vice-President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: "The reliability and our speed must be further improved and everybody in the team is aware of this. We will continue to work in a focused manner to make our overall package better and more reliable."