Belgian GP: McLaren race notes

West McLaren Mercedes driver David Coulthard claimed fourth in today's 44 laps Belgian Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. Team-mate Kimi Raikkonen retired from fifth position on lap 35 with an engine failure. Kimi had his first pitstop on lap 18 (9.6 seconds) whilst David came in on the following lap (8.7 seconds). Lap 34 saw Kimi coming in for the second time (8.2 seconds) and David pitted on lap 35 (6.2 seconds). David is fifth in the Drivers' World Championship with 37 points and Kimi is sixth with 20 points. The West McLaren Mercedes team remains third in the Constructors' World Championship with 57 points.

DAVID COULTHARD

"It's a pity that we couldn't achieve a better result today. I managed to get past Ralf Schumacher on the long straight towards Les Combes to claim fifth on the first lap. My car was not so good in the middle sector and that's why I couldn't get close enough to actually get past Montoya. The grip improved after my second pitstop when there was more rubber on the track and I had a low fuel load, which was why I set my fastest lap times towards the end. A very fast second pitstop by the team enabled me to close right up to Montoya, but unfortunately it was not enough."

KIMI RAIKKONEN

"Not the ideal way to end the weekend, but it's one of those things. At the start I couldn't hold Rubens back. and he managed to get past as both him and Michael were on new tyres. The following lap I went wide and nearly lost control of the car but managed to save it, but unfortunately the mistake allowed Montoya to overtake me. I was keeping up with him and putting on the pressure, and we went into the pits for our first stops at the same time, but he got out in front of me. Just before my second pitstop I could feel that something was not right and on lap 36 I had an engine failure and that was the end of the race for me. It's been an exciting weekend and I enjoyed starting from the front row, but ideally I would have liked to stay there."

RON DENNIS

"Low ambient temperature was the primary reason for the drop in our performance from yesterday. A difficult weekend, but nevertheless, as qualifying demonstrated, we are making progress."

NORBERT HAUG

"Today nobody had a chance against Ferrari. David couldn't get past Montoya in the final stages of the race despite closing in and putting pressure on him, as overtaking was not possible. We will have to investigate the reason for Kimi's engine failure."

David Coulthard: Chassis 07
Kimi Raikkonen: Chassis 03
T-car (Kimi): Chassis 08

-mclaren-