British GP: McLaren race notes

Team McLaren Mercedes driver Kimi Raikkonen finished second in today's British Grand Prix at Silverstone. David Coulthard came home seventh in the 60-lap race. Both drivers were on a three-stop strategy with Kimi stopping on laps 11 (7.5 seconds), 28 (6.7 seconds) and 41 (8.5 seconds) whilst David came in on lap 10 (8.6 seconds), 30 (7.2 seconds) and 41 (6.9 seconds).

Both drivers used the Safety Car period, which was caused by Jarno Trulli's accident, for their third stops. Kimi is now seventh in the Drivers' Championship with 18 points and David eighth with 14 points. Team McLaren Mercedes holds fifth position in the Constructors' rankings.

Kimi Raikkonen:

"Although we didn't win today it was an exciting race, and second is a great result for the entire team. All the hard work that went into the development of the MP4-19B has paid off. I made a very good start and was able to push throughout the race. Unfortunately I had a bit of traffic after my pit stops, but that's racing."

"I struggled with the balance on the rear with my last set of tyres and as a result it wasn't possible to attack harder and pass Michael in my last stint. The outcome of today's race is very motivating for the team after the bad first half of the season."

David Coulthard:

"Congratulations to Kimi on a great drive. Unfortunately despite the MP4-19B's obvious progress I'm not happy about my own performance today. During practice and the race I was struggling with the balance of my car, and I didn't feel comfortable especially in the slow corners. We will be testing here at Silverstone on Tuesday and Wednesday, and I will work hard to sort out my set-up problems in order to be much more competitive at the next race at Hockenheim."

Ron Dennis

"Our underlying performance strengthens our belief that we have made a significant step forward. Kimi's qualifying and our general race pace are not so far behind where it needs to be in order to win. This week we have intensive simultaneous tests at Silverstone and Jerez which should yield a little more pace, which we of course will carry forward to Hockenheim. In the end our weekend is a great boost for the entire team who have worked so hard to achieve the difficult targets that we had."

Norbert Haug:

"A super job by Kimi and the entire team. We have made a step in terms of chassis and engine performance and were the best Michelin team today. Congratulations to our team where everybody has worked extremely hard to make the 19B fast and reliable. David got stuck in traffic at the beginning and was not entirely comfortable with the set-up he had chosen but still scored two points. We are not yet there, but we are close. We are now looking forward to our home grand prix at Hockenheim in a fortnight."

-mclaren-