September 26, 2004

West McLaren Mercedes driver Kimi Räikkönen finished the inaugural Chinese Grand Prix third. After 56 laps of the new 5.451 kilometre Shanghai International Circuit the Finn crossed the finishing line just 1.4sec behind winner Rubens Barrichello(Ferrari). David Coulthard took ninth place. West McLaren Mercedes scored another 6 points to consolidate fifth place in the Constructors' Championship with 58 points in total.

The start: Kimi was second in qualifying and held second place accelerating away from the start. David started ninth on the grid and completed the opening lap in eighth place.

The race: On lap six David overtook Felipe Massa (Sauber Petronas) to take seventh place. He made his first pit stop on lap 11 and resumed after 7.9sec in 14th place. Meanwhile Kimi chased race leader Barrichello and constantly remained within one second of the Ferrari. At the first round of refuelling stops Barrichello and Kimi came in together at the end of lap 12. Kimi resumed in fifth place. On lap 16, the previous order was re-established with Barrichello leading 0.6sec ahead of Kimi. On lap 20, David was seventh.

Kimi made his second refuelling stop on lap 27 in 6.1sec and resumed third. David was up to seventh when he made his second refuelling stop one lap later in 6.9sec and resumed eighth. Kimi was in second place when he made his third scheduled stop in 9.3sec on lap 36, resuming third. In the last ten laps he recorded the fastest laps of the top-three drivers to reduce the gap behind Jenson Button (BAR-Honda) from 5.8sec to 0.4sec, finishing the race in third place.

On lap 37 David had a coming-together with Ralf Schumacher (BMW Williams) and made his second refuelling stop in 9.2sec one lap later. At the end of the 56 laps he finished the race in ninth place.

Kimi Räikkönen: "From where I was sitting that was a close and exciting debut race and hopefully the Chinese fans agree. I was able to keep up with Rubens but just lacked that final speed to get past and take the lead. As always we are here to win races and decided to change my strategy in an attempt to get past Rubens with a short middle stint. However it didn't work out and we lost second place to Jenson, but I'm not too disappointed. The car has felt good throughout the weekend and once again my Michelin tyres were working well. My times were consistent during the race and I'm looking forward to the last two races where we will continue to go for victory."

David Coulthard: "An exciting race with a disappointing outcome for me. As always with a low grid position it is difficult to achieve a decent result particularly as you inevitably get involved in the mid-field battles. There is no doubt that the pace was there, but I got stuck behind one of the Saubers in the opening stages and lost a lot of time. On lap 37 I unfortunately had a coming together with Ralf Schumacher at the hairpin and damaged my left front wheel. I'm sorry for him but it also affected my race significantly as I could have finished higher up in the points. It took me quite some time to reach the pits to replace the wheel. At the end of day the team could have used the points, but at least we put on a good show in China."

Ron Dennis, Team Principal: "A thrilling race and a fantastic debut for Formula One in China. We have always made it clear that we exist to win and that was what we wanted to do today. As a result we took the decision to change Kimi's strategy to see if we could get him ahead of Rubens. On this occasion it didn't work out and in effect we handed second place to Jenson. David's result was affected by his starting position and the often inevitable mid-field incidents, which put him out of contention despite having the speed."

Norbert Haug, Vice-President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: "An exciting race which saw two strong Ferrari challengers with Kimi performing exceptionally well. Our speed was good throughout the race and Kimi could put a lot of pressure on Rubens and Jenson. David was quick, too but lost the possibility of scoring quite a few points in his accident with Ralf Schumacher. This was an important event for Formula One and our team here at this debut in China. The outcome shows the development of the MP4-19B continues to go in the right direction, and we are looking forward to the next race in Japan, where we will try to do two places better."