Formula 1
Australian GP: McLaren race notes
Team McLaren Mercedes drivers Juan Pablo Montoya and Kimi Raikkonen finished the opening race of the 2005 season at Albert Park in Australia in sixth and eight places respectively. Kimi stalled at the start which meant he had to start the ...
Edited: Mar 8, 2005, 8:05 AM
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Team McLaren Mercedes drivers Juan Pablo Montoya and Kimi Raikkonen finished the opening race of the 2005 season at Albert Park in Australia in sixth and eight places respectively. Kimi stalled at the start which meant he had to start the 58-lap-race from the pitlane. Both drivers were on a two-stop-strategy which saw Juan Pablo coming in on laps 23 (9.224 seconds) and 42 (7.404 seconds) whilst Kimi came in on laps 25 (6.263) and 39 (9.019 seconds).
Juan Pablo Montoya
"I'm pleased that we seem to have the speed with the MP4-20 package, and I would have been able to finish higher up had things gone our way. I lost some valuable time during my second stint as I was pushing really hard on the in-lap and got the rear tyre on the grass at Turn Eight. Later on there was a misunderstanding with one of the Jordans which meant I was pushed off the track. Towards the end I slowed down to conserve the package for Malaysia. After the race I have been told that I also had lost one of my deflectors which obviously affected the overall speed and the handling of my car."
Kimi Raikkonen
"The result might not show this but we have the pace to challenge for victories, which is great. However today my race was really over when I stalled the car at the start and had to begin my race from the pitlane. In the opening stages I was stuck behind Michael Schumacher which lost me some time, but when I got past him in the first round of pitstops I was able to pick up speed again. However my deflector came off and went underneath the car. The team removed it during my scheduled second pitstop but the loss obviously affected the handling of my car in the closing stages. I really look forward to Malaysia where hopefully we should be able to get the result we believe we are capable of and have some more consistent weather."
Ron Dennis
"Juan Pablo's race was unfolding as expected until he went on the grass. He also lost a deflector but if things had gone our way he would have finished on the podium. Kimi's grand prix was effectively over after he stalled the car at the start. During the race he was hampered by the loss of a deflector which subsequently jammed underneath the car. The positive outcomes of the opening race are the very good performance from our Michelin tyres and that we had the pace to win and as a result are looking forward to Malaysia and the rest of the season."
Norbert Haug
"Kimi's speed was reasonable, however after having to start from the pitlane a better place than eighth was not possible. Juan Pablo complained about handling problems in the last third of the race which we later discovered was due to a loss of a deflector. Our starting positions - tenth and from the pitlane -- didn't help to get a better result. After only 15 laps, Kimi was already 40 seconds behind the leader and this was still the case after 58 laps."
-mclaren-
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