Brazilian GP McLaren notes

Brazilian Grand Prix Race Review - 31st March 1996 The Marlboro McLaren Mercedes team collected three championship points following Mika Hakkinen's fourth place in the 1996 Brazlian Grand Prix. Torrential rain caused the Finn to lose several places on the opening lap but he steadily made up ground, setting competitive lap times in the second part of the race. David Coulthard fell victim of the changing weather conditions and retired after spinning off on lap 30.

Mika Hakkinen (car no 7): "This was a good race for me overall, especially in technical terms. The car was handling well, close to 100% and I finished fourth from my seventh position on the grid. I lost some places on the first lap because whilst I was confident about the car's handling in the dry I did not want to take unnecessary risks in the pouring rain. I made progress step by step and scored some more points for the team. It is a long season, the car is getting stronger and better, and I am now looking forward to the next Grand Prix in Argentina."

David Coulthard (car no 8): "The conditions at the beginning of the race were atrocious but I managed to get a good start and went up to ninth place. I was holding my position well when I made a mistake in turn 4 and slid on the grass. We decided to have a pitstop after that as the track was drying out and I changed to slick tyres. Unfortunately, it started to rain again at the back of the circuit and although my lap times were good the conditions were very tricky. I eventually put a wheel on the water turning down through the first corner, went onto the grass and spun off. That's a disappointing end to what could have been an exciting race."

Norbert Haug: "After Melbourne, there was a significant trend upwards for us today, with Mika setting fourth fastest time in the race. Considering the fact that we made one more pitstop than the leaders and that we consistently achieved quick laps in the second part of the race, today's performance is encouraging."

Ron Dennis: "The appalling conditions at the start of the race cost us an opportunity to take advantage of our warm-up pace, and I am sure that we could have achieved a better result in the dry. In the cirumstances, we were more encouraged by our ability to set reasonable lap times than by Mika's fourth place."