July 11 , 2004

Team McLaren Mercedes driver Kimi Räikkönen came home second in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. After 60 laps, Kimi finished 2.1sec behind winner Michael Schumacher (Ferrari). David Coulthard ended up seventh with a gap of 19.6sec.

MP4-19B 02: David - MP4-19B 01: Kimi

The start: Kimi had qualified on his third Formula 1 career pole position and accelerated into an immediate lead to finish the opening lap with a 3.5sec margin ahead of Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari). David started sixth and was on the same position after the first lap.

The race: Kimi maintained the lead until his first of three scheduled pit stops on lap 11 (7.5sec) and resumed in fourth place. After Michael Schumacher's first stop on lap 15 (9.3sec) Kimi was second with 1.3sec behind the German. During the following laps, Kimi reduced the gap to less than half a second. He made his second pit stop on lap 28 (6.7sec) and remained second. Michael Schumacher who had planned two stops pitted for the second time on lap 37 (9.5sec). Again, Kimi's gap behind the German was less than a second. After Jarno Trulli's accident on lap 40, the Safety Car was deployed. Kimi made his third stop on lap 41 (8.5sec) under yellow and remained second. Following the re-start on lap 46, the Finn attacked and closed the margin behind Michael Schumacher to 0.2sec. In the end, Kimi finished second 2.1sec behind the winner.

David made his first pit stop on lap 10 (8.6sec) and dropped to 14th. The Scot was fifth when he came in for his second stop (7.2sec) on lap 30, he resumed in tenth. David, too, pitted for the third time during the Safety Car period (lap 41/6.9sec). 19 laps later, he finished in seventh place.

Kimi Räikkönen: "Although we didn't win today it was an exciting race, and second is a great result for the entire team. All the hard work that went into the development of the MP4-19B has paid off. I made a very good start and was able to push throughout the race. Unfortunately I had a bit of traffic after my pit stops, but that's racing. I struggled with the balance on the rear with my last set of tyres and as a result it wasn't possible to attack harder and pass Michael in my last stint. The outcome of today's race is very motivating for the team after the bad first half of the season."

David Coulthard: "Congratulations to Kimi on a great drive. Unfortunately despite the MP4-19B's obvious progress I'm not happy about my own performance today. During practice and the race I was struggling with the balance of my car, and I didn't feel comfortable especially in the slow corners. We will be testing here at Silverstone on Tuesday and Wednesday, and I will work hard to sort out my set-up problems in order to be much more competitive at the next race at Hockenheim."

Ron Dennis, Team Principal: "Our underlying performance strengthens our belief that we have made a significant step forward. Kimi's qualifying and our general race pace are not so far behind where it needs to be in order to win. This week we have intensive simultaneous tests at Silverstone and Jerez which should yield a little more pace, which we of course will carry forward to Hockenheim. In the end our weekend is a great boost for the entire team who have worked so hard to achieve the difficult targets that we had."

Norbert Haug, Vice-President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: "A super job by Kimi and the entire team. We have made a step in terms of chassis and engine performance and were the best Michelin team today. Congratulations to our team where everybody has worked extremely hard to make the 19B fast and reliable. David got stuck in traffic at the beginning and was not entirely comfortable with the set-up he had chosen but still scored two points. We are not yet there, but we are close. We are now looking forward to our home grand prix at Hockenheim in a fortnight."