Monaco GP McLaren race notes

Mika Hakkinen Chassis 04
T-car (Mika) Chassis 01
David Coulthard Chassis 05
T-car (David) Chassis 02

The West McLaren Mercedes team won today’s Monaco Grand Prix when David Coulthard crossed the finishing line 15.889 seconds ahead of Barrichello. Mika Hakkinen had to settle for sixth place after experiencing problems with his brake pedal prior to his first pit stop and the gearbox as he was chasing Salo for fifth place towards the end of the race. Today’s result sees David move up to second place in the Drivers’ Championship with 34 points. Mika is third with 29 points. West McLaren Mercedes closed the gap in the Constructors’ Championship to five points.

DAVID COULTHARD
‘I have always said that there are a few Grands Prix, which are very special to me, and Monaco is definitely one of them. The track is probably the most technically challenging and I’m very happy both for the team and myself. I have felt confident all weekend and the car was very good throughout the race. Initially I got stuck behind Trulli but I was constantly pushing him and when he retired I tried hard to catch Schumacher even through there was a significant gap, because you never know what might happen.’

MIKA HAKKINEN
‘A great win for David and the team. I know what it’s like to win in Monaco and it’s a very special and rewarding feeling - congratulations David. In my view one point is better than nothing but obviously I’m disappointed that I couldn’t manage to score more. I experienced some problems with the car during the race. First of all with my brake pedal, which we fixed in the first pit stop, and then towards the end, I had some trouble with the gearbox and had to back off. All in all I guess I’m lucky to leave with one point.’

RON DENNIS
‘A challenging day or more accurately a challenging weekend. Tremendously disciplined drives from David and Mika who both coped well with the frustration of the slower cars in the early part of the race. This of course passed the advantage to Schumacher but following Trulli’s demise and upon Mika’s return to the circuit following the removal of a data transmitter fouling his brake pedal they both proceeded to record fastest laps. As always the reality is that so much of the race is dictated by qualifying and the simple application of the survival of the fittest principle. David’s great win and Mika’s solitary point closes the gap yet again. A final and particularly pleasing fact is that this 11th win stretches our lead as being the most successful team ever to compete at Monaco.’

NORBERT HAUG
‘A super race by David who put in a shining performance. He kept his cool during the race and pushed throughout and his efforts were rewarded. It’s a shame that Mika’s race was affected by brake pedal and gearbox problems. Without these technical problems he would have been in a very strong position as his quickest lap of the race proved. We are now only five points behind in the Constructors’ Championship and have kept the Drivers’ Championship open.’