July 30, 2006

McLaren Mercedes driver Kimi Räikkönen finished the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim in third position. Having started the race from pole position Kimi completed the 67 laps 13.2sec behind winner Michael Schumacher (Ferrari). Pedro de la Rosa had to retire on lap three due to a mechanical failure of the car's fuel pump. Team McLaren Mercedes holds third position in the Constructors' World Championship with 77 points. Kimi is fifth on 49 points, equal with Giancarlo Fisichella. Juan Pablo Montoya is sixth on 26 points and Pedro de la Rosa 16th with two points. The table is led by Fernando Alonso (Renault) on 100 points.

The start: For the first time this season - and for the ninth time in his career - Kimi started the race from pole position. At the start he took an immediate lead ahead of the Ferraris of Schumacher and Felipe Massa. Pedro started from ninth position and was up to seventh place by the end of the opening lap. The Spaniard had to retire on lap three due to a mechanical failure of his car's fuel pump. The race: Kimi stretched his leading advantage to approximately three seconds. His team had planned that he would run a three stop strategy and he came in for his first stop on lap 10 and resumed in eighth position. His car was stationary for 15.2sec due to a problem with a cross-threaded right rear wheel nut. On lap 28 the Finn came in for his second stop (7.2sec) while holding fifth position. He resumed seventh. For several laps afterwards his lap times were faster than the leading cars and he closed the gap to Alonso who was directly ahead of him. At the end of the second round of pit stops, on lap 48 Kimi was up to third position. He lost one place through his third pit stop on lap 55 (6.6sec) and resumed fourth.

In just two laps he closed the gap to Jenson Button (Honda) from 3sec to just 0.5sec and on lap 57 he overtook the Briton in front of the Mercedes grandstand to take third. After 67 laps he crossed the line in this position.

Comments

Kimi Räikkönen: "To be on the podium is really the best result that we could have achieved today as we have had several problems. During the race I had a small problem in my first pit-stop; I suffered from blistering on my second set of tyres and there was a small problem with the hydraulics which meant that Jenson Button was able to get ahead after my first stop. However none of these really mattered as we were able to make up all the time in the last part of the race where we were very strong. The result today shows that the car has definitely improved and hopefully next race we can do even better."

Pedro de la Rosa: "It is a real shame that my race ended so quickly, especially after I had such a good start and had moved up two places. The car felt really quick and was easy to drive. I was catching the Renault's when all of a sudden I lost power and had to pull up, as a result of a failed fuel pump. Although I am disappointed these things happen and I am now just looking forward to the race next weekend in Hungary where hopefully we can better demonstrate the improved competitiveness of the car."

Ron Dennis, Team Principal: "An outstanding race by Kimi and I am exceedingly pleased for the team because of the necessity to vary our strategy and the role this played in getting onto the podium. Our apologies to Pedro whose retirement was the result of a mechanical fuel pump failure, the cause of which will be analysed over the next few days. It is hard to be satisfied with this result but it was the best we could do in the circumstances and we now look forward to the next race where we hope our improved performance should continue."

Norbert Haug, Vice President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: "A good race result at the Mercedes- Benz home Grand Prix as the best Michelin car and a super job by Kimi. Taking into consideration that we had problems with a crossed wheel nut on the right rear tyre on his car during the first pit stop and a small hydraulic problem during the race we could not do any better against the combination of Bridgestone and Ferrari. The failure on Pedro's car was a shame. I am sure that he definitely was able to get into the top five."