British GP McLaren race notes

Silverstone, Sunday 23rd April, 2000

Mika Hakkinen Chassis 01
David Coulthard Chassis 02
T-car Chassis 03

The West McLaren Mercedes team scored a one-two victory in today’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone. David Coulthard claimed his second consecutive British Grand Prix victory when he crossed the finishing line 1.477 seconds ahead of teammate Mika Hakkinen. David took the lead on lap 31 when he passed Rubens Barrichello with a stunning overtaking manoeuvre. David is now second in the Drivers Championship with 14 points and Mika is third with twelve points.

MIKA HAKKINEN
‘The start really decided the outcome of the race and it was unfortunate that I just lost grip while accelerating. I had a problem with my car in this morning’s warm-up which meant that I didn’t get a lot of track time and we were unable to make the final adjustments to our race set-up. As a result I was not happy with the balance of the car in the race. We made a minor change in my pit stop and I was able to go quicker but we needed more than that. The car did improve towards the end when there was a lot more grip on the track surface and I was clear of traffic so I was able to close the gap to David.’

DAVID COULTHARD
‘It’s a fantastic feeling to win in front of my home crowd for the second time in a row. My engineers and mechanics did a fantastic job and I would really like to thank them for all their effort and support. I managed to overtake Rubens just before my one and only pitstop. That left me with quite some time to think about what it would feel like to win. I had a gearbox problem approximately 15 laps from the end, which meant that I wasn’t able to take things easy. The car felt good and I’m pleased that my challenge for the Championship has begun.’

RON DENNIS
‘A perfect end to a less than perfect weekend. We, along with all the other teams, suffered many problems as a result of the severe weather conditions on Friday and Saturday. The fog delaying race warm-up this morning further hampered our efforts to optimise the cars for the race. At the end of the day the team as a whole performed very well solving the problems as quickly as they emerged. I’m delighted for the team and also for Silverstone who persevered throughout the weekend and ultimately gave the public the opportunity to see a great race.’

NORBERT HAUG
‘What a fantastic victory in the home Grand Prix of our partner McLaren. Congratulations to David and Mika and the whole West McLaren Mercedes team. We need to continue to push but today there is certainly time for a celebration.’