July 16, 2006

McLaren Mercedes drivers Kimi Räikkönen and Pedro de la Rosa finished the French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours in fifth and seventh places. Kimi completed the 70 laps 33.006sec behind winner Michael Schumacher (Ferrari). Pedro, driving his second Grand Prix for Team McLaren Mercedes, finished in seventh place 49.407sec behind the winning Ferrari. Team McLaren Mercedes are holding third place in the Constructors' Championship with 71 points. Kimi is fourth in the Drivers' Championship on 46 points whilst Juan Pablo Montoya is sixth with 26 points. The table is led by Fernando Alonso with 96 points.

The start: Kimi started the race from sixth place on the grid and completed the opening lap in that position. Pedro started from eighth place and came round ninth at the end of the first lap. The race: For the refuelling stops the team adopted a three stop strategy for both cars. Kimi made his first stop from sixth place at the end of lap 17 (7.0sec) and returned to the race in seventh position. Pedro made his first stop from ninth place at the end of the following lap (6.5sec) and resumed in 13th place. On lap 27 Kimi overtook Jarno Trulli's Toyota to move into fourth place. On lap 32 Kimi made his second refuelling stop in 11.4sec. The Finn resumed in seventh place just ahead of his team-mate. Pedro came into the pits for his second refuelling stop on lap 35 (6.7sec) and dropped to tenth when he rejoined the race. Pedro overtook Nick Heidfeld's BMW Sauber on lap 37 to take ninth place. Until lap 39 Pedro improved to seventh and made his third stop on lap 50 in 7.4sec. He resumed in seventh place. During this stage, Kimi was significantly faster than Fernando Alonso (Renault) ahead of him and the Finn reduced the gap to 3.1sec. He made his third stop in 7.0sec on lap 53, resuming in fifth place which he held to the finish. Pedro set the third fastest lap of the race in 1m17.625s; he and Kimi were the fastest drivers on Michelin tyres in the field.

Comments Kimi Räikkönen: "A disappointing race as the car was handling really well. We were lacking the speed to win, but I lost a few tenths in the second pit-stop which cost me fourth place today, so we definitely could have done better today. The car is steadily improving and we have further developments at the next test so we now look forward to the next race at Hockenheim in two weeks time, where hopefully we will score better in front of Mercedes-Benz home crowd."

Pedro de la Rosa: "The car had the speed today and felt really good to drive. I feel I really could have scored more points if I had not lost position to Mark Webber at the start of the race. This meant that I lost a lot of time in the opening stint trying to pass him and when I eventually got passed during the pit stop I was behind a lot of traffic on different strategies. As a result following the first round of stops I was over 20 seconds behind Ralf Schumacher, so it was very difficult for me to improve on my position. I really enjoyed the race and I am pleased to have scored some points for the team and be one the fastest of the Michelin runners." Ron Dennis, Team Principal: "We had a much more competitive pace today which indicates the continued improvement of the car. Unfortunately Bridgestone had an advantage and we will work hard with Michelin to reverse the situation at Hockenheim. We varied our race strategy in an attempt to improve the outcome of the race but to no avail. Both Kimi and Pedro drove well and as always we look forward to getting better results at the next grand prix."

Norbert Haug, Vice President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: "Our grid positions were decisive for the outcome of our race, the pace was better than in qualifying. So it was very difficult to improve on sixth and eighth despite the fact that our lap times were among the fastest of the Michelin runners. Kimi was the second placed Michelin car, but we want to do better. Pedro put in a good performance as well, however after the start he got stuck behind a slower car for the first third of the race. Once he could run free he was immediately one and a half seconds quicker than before. We are now looking forward to our home grand prix at Hockenheim in a fortnight and will work hard to further improve our performance."