May 31 , 2004

The Team McLaren Mercedes drivers Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard retired from the European Grand prix at the Nurburgring due to engine failures. Kimi's car stopped out on the circuit on lap ten. Before that he spent eight laps in second place behind eventual winner Michael Schumacher (Ferrari). David stopped on the 26th lap whilst running ninth after starting from last place on the grid.

MP4-19 05: David
MP4-19 04: Kimi

The start: Kimi started the race from fourth position and held that position into the first corner. At the end of the Mercedes arena he overtook Takuma Sato and Jarno Trulli, who had momentarily touched each other, to take second place behind Michael Schumacher. After changing his engine on Saturday, David started from last position on the grid and was up to ninth at the end of the opening lap.

The race: Behind race leader Michael Schumacher Kimi defended his second position ahead of Fernando Alonso (Renault), Sato, Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari) and Jenson Button (BAR-Honda). As Michael Schumacher came into the pits at the end of lap eight, Kimi took the lead. One lap later, the Finn came in for his first refuelling stop (7.6sec). On lap ten he slowed progressively and retired with an engine failure.

For David the team had planned a two stop strategy and, for this reason, he started with a heavy fuel load. As the drivers running on a three stop strategy made their first routine refuelling stops, the Scot improved his position to fourth by lap 13. He was running fifth when he came in on lap 20 for his first refuelling stop (8.4sec). He was ninth when he retired on lap 26.

Comments

David Coulthard: "The race was going well. I had a good start from the back of the grid making the most of other people getting in trouble on the first lap and went from 20th to ninth. As we were on a two stop strategy the car was heavy with fuel, but I believe we would have been in a good position to score some points. It's disappointing and nobody in the team is enjoying the situation at the moment, but we will all continue to work hard to make things better, and I'm confident that we will fight back."

Kimi Räikkönen: "Obviously I'm extremely frustrated and disappointed. I was at the front after getting past Sato and Trulli on the first lap and there was no doubt that things were looking good. We are making progress, but it's clear that we have to improve our reliability dramatically."

Ron Dennis, Team Principal: "The reliability problems we are experiencing at the moment are linked with our efforts to increase the team's competitiveness as fast as possible. Our qualifying and the early part of the race certainly demonstrated that we are getting there. Of course it's painful not to finish races, but the most constructive way forward for the team is to analyse the problems and execute the engineering solutions."

Norbert Haug, Vice-President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: "A disappointing outcome to the race. Kimi and David did everything right and were in good positions during the opening laps. The engines will go back to Mercedes-Ilmor tonight to investigate the source of the failures which we suspect was a problem with a batch of pistons from which all the engines for this race have been built."