June 26, 2006

McLaren Mercedes driver Kimi Räikkönen has finished the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal in third position. After 70 laps the Finn came home 8.8sec behind race winner Fernando Alonso (Renault). Team mate Juan Pablo Montoya retired on lap 13 after hitting the wall before the pits. Team McLaren Mercedes is third in the Constructors’ World Championship with 65 points. Kimi is also third in the drivers' rankings on 39 points. Juan Pablo is sixth on 26 points. Fernando Alonso leads the table with 84 points.

The start: Kimi started the race from third place on the grid, Juan Pablo from seventh. Both drivers improved on their positions by one place at the start and completed the first lap in second and sixth places. At the start of the second lap Juan Pablo challenged Nico Rosberg (Williams-Cosworth) and both cars touched. The Safety Car was deployed and Juan Pablo made a pit stop on the second lap; the team changed the damaged nose cone (26.4sec). He resumed the race 19th.

The race: After the restart on lap three Kimi's gap to Alonso was less than one second and both were recording virtually the same lap times while also opening the gap to their pursuers. On the 22nd lap Kimi set the fastest lap of the race in 1m15.841sec. As Alonso came into the pits for his first stop on lap 23 Kimi took the lead before making his own first stop on lap 25 (12.6sec) the duration of which was caused by a dragging clutch. He resumed in second position.

As Alonso pitted for the second time on the 50th lap Kimi took the lead again then came in on lap 53 for his second planned stop which took 14.6 sec due to the clutch problem which contributed to stalling the engine. Kimi was now in second place.

After the accident of Jacques Villeneuve (BMW Sauber) on lap 59 the safety car was deployed for the second time. With seven laps to go the race restarted. On lap 69 Kimi made a mistake at the hairpin while trying to catch Alonso and fell back to third behind Michael Schumacher.

Juan Pablo improved to 14th on lap 12, but then the Colombian touched the wall coming onto the pit straight and retired.

Comments

Kimi Räikkönen : "That was not an easy race. I was really pushing Fernando for the lead in the opening part and was able to have a go at the hairpin when he went wide, but it was not to be. We had some problems with the clutch in both pitstops which hampered our chance of victory. Traffic didn't make things easier and at the end I was in second. However then the Safety Car came back out and I was pushing to see if there was a chance of catching Fernando, but went wide at the hairpin which allowed Michael past. That was a shame but we always want to do everything we can to win. We can leave Montreal knowing that we are competitive and I look forward to Indianapolis."

Juan Pablo Montoya: "That was a bit of a mess. I was battling with Nico Rosberg in the opening laps and was next to him, but then we touched. I thought I had damaged the nose and as the Safety Car came out I went into the pits. The team did a precautionary tyre change and changed my race strategy to give me the best chance of a strong finishing position. I had a good battle with DC and then with Ralf and was making progress. The car was great, but I was sliding quite a bit as I had lost a deflector and consequently was a bit light on downforce. I was trying to make up positions, but then I touched the wall and damaged the rear and that was the end of the race for me. It was a shame as I think we would have been competitive, but the incident with Rosberg really ruined things for me. There is no point in saying who is to blame. I now look forward to Indianapolis where hopefully our competitiveness will continue to improve."

Ron Dennis, Team Principal: "The earlier stops of the Renaults show that our qualifying and race competitiveness have clearly improved. We lost second place after Kimi made a small mistake when pushing to catch Fernando. However we are about winning and these things happen when you are pushing. There were some problems with the clutch in both of Kimi's stops which cost us time, but I think we have demonstrated that we are competitive and can challenge for victories. Juan Pablo didn't get the opportunity to show his potential due to the incident with Rosberg. The entire team is now looking forward to the race next weekend in USA where we want to continue working hard to win."

Norbert Haug, Vice President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: "The race result doesn't reflect our speed which looked competitive today. Unfortunately Kimi lost time during his pit stops due to a clutch problem which we will certainly have under control at the next race. However on the track he performed well and posted the fastest lap of the race. Kimi was pushing to have a go on Fernando after the Safety Car, but ran wide and lost second place on the penultimate lap. Juan Pablo had a good start but lost his chances for a result already on the second lap after the incident with Nico Rosberg. The upside of this weekend was our speed, the downside was that we could not make more out of it – next weekend we have another possibility."