July 10, 2005

McLaren Mercedes driver Juan Pablo Montoya has won the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. After 60 laps the Colombian completed the McLaren team's home race 2.7sec ahead of Fernando Alonso. Kimi Raikkonen had qualified second, but had to start from 12th place on the grid after taking a penalty for an engine change, and came through to finish third. This is the first McLaren victory for Juan Pablo and the fifth of his Formula 1 career overall. For McLaren-Mercedes this is the 38th Grand Prix win and the fourth so far this year. After 11 out of 19 races the team holds second place in the Constructors' ranking with 87 points behind Renault on 102 points. Kimi remains second in the Drivers' ranking on 51 points behind Alonso on 77 points. Juan Pablo has improved from 11th to 6th place with 22 points.

The start: Juan Pablo started from third position on the grid and by the second corner he had passed both Jenson Button (BAR Honda) and Fernando Alonso (Renault) and completed the first lap in the lead. Kimi started the race from 12th position as he took a ten-place penalty for an engine change caused by a damaged oil pump drive. In the first lap Kimi improved four places to complete the lap in eighth position. Then the safety car was deployed to the end of the second lap after Takuma Sato's BAR-Honda stalled while taking its place on the starting grid.

The race: Juan Pablo led the race until his first scheduled stop on lap 22 (8.8sec). Kimi spent much of the opening stint behind Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) and Jarno Trulli (Toyota). The Finn pitted for his first stop on lap 26 in 8.0sec as the last leading competitor to come in. At the end of the first round of pit stops Juan Pablo led the race again and Kimi had improved to sixth position. After the second stop of Rubens Barraichello (Ferrari) on lap 32 the Finn claimed fifth position. After that Kimi closed the gap to Button. After the British driver came in for his second pit stop on lap 43 Kimi went through to fourth position. Juan Pablo came in for his second stop on lap 44 (6.6sec) and resumed third. After the stops by Alonso and Fisichella, the Colombian took the lead again and kept ahead to win the race. Kimi came in for his second refuelling stop on lap 45 (6.0sec) and emerged third after the second round of pit stops had been completed. On the 60th and final lap he drove the fastest lap of the race (1:20.502) to finish third.

Juan Pablo Montoya : "It's a great feeling winning my first Grand Prix for Team McLaren Mercedes. My start was perfect, and I managed to get by Fernando in a wheel-to-wheel dice after the second corner. I was really going for it and knew that he had more to lose than me - I just wanted to win the race. It was then all about staying ahead and our strategy combined with two excellent pit stops really helped me to manage that. The team did a great job particularly calling me in one lap early for my first pitstop to avoid traffic, which was the right decision and meant I gained an advantage to Fernando. However, it was not an easy race as Fernando put me under a lot of pressure until the very end."

Kimi Räikkönen: "I think I did the best I could today, and we can leave Silverstone with two podium finishes. If I had not had the problems yesterday and lost 10 grid positions, the result would have been different, but that is motor racing. However we lost only two points in the Championship battle and hopefully we can challenge for victory at the remaining races. During the race I lost a lot of time behind other cars. It's so difficult to get close in the fast corners as you just lose all grip. When I got past Michael and Trulli in the pitstops it was too late and the gap to the front was too big."

Ron Dennis, Team Principal : "I think today's results speak for themselves. An outstanding performance from Juan Pablo who worked hard to generate sufficient gap to Alonso prior to his final stop to ensure his race victory, which of course he achieved. Kimi's third place reflects his poor starting position resulting from a penalty he suffered following an engine change on Saturday. Nevertheless he set fastest lap and with 80 points available mathematically both drivers still have the opportunity to challenge for the Championship."

Norbert Haug, Vice President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: "A fantastic race and a great day for all our team members which saw Juan Pablo's first victory for the team. His start was exceptional, and he did not put one foot wrong during the race. Our race strategy was good. Kimi's speed throughout the race was impressive, and he finally achieved the fastest lap of the race on his very last lap. Kimi lost two points to Alonso in the championship. Without the engine change yesterday he could certainly have achieved an even better result. We are now looking forward to our home Grand Prix at Hockenheim."