Spanish GP McLaren race notes

Mika Hakkinen Chassis 04 David Coulthard Chassis 05 T-car Chassis 01

For the third year in a row the West McLaren Mercedes team claimed a one-two victory at the Spanish Grand Prix when Mika Hakkinen finished the 65-lap race 16.066 seconds in front of David. Mika went into the lead after his second pitstop while David took second place by overtaking Michael Schumacher on lap 47. The team's second one-two result this year closes the gap in the Manufacturers' World Championship to seven points. Mika is second in the Drivers' World Championship with 22 points and David is third with 20 points.

MIKA HAKKINEN
'I can't really find the words to explain how happy and relieved I am to have claimed my first victory this season. We have been so close before but today was the day and the team did a fantastic job. My start from second wasn't ideal, despite having a lot of traction I didn't get the clutch to bite properly. Fortunately Schumacher didn't make a great start either, so we were side by side coming into the first corner. In the end I had to give way because I was on the outside. Schumacher managed to pull away during the first couple of laps but when his tyres started to go off I was able to catch him and could start putting him under pressure. The team did a great job in the second pitstop so I was able to take the lead.'

DAVID COULTHARD
'It's great for the team to get another one-two victory. During the first part of the race, I was stuck behind Ralf Schumacher but was putting him under pressure. However, I got nowhere and the team decided to call me in early for my first pitstop. Unfortunately I selected second gear instead of first so I rejoined the race in fifth. I gained a place in my second pitstop and could go around the outside of Ralf Schumacher when I exited the pitlane. On lap 42 I overtook Michael Schumacher at the end of the straight to claim second. All in all I'm pleased that we scored maximum points this weekend.'

RON DENNIS
'The perfect outcome to a difficult weekend. Equal praise to Mika, who drove an outstanding race and David, who coped so well through all the pressure of the week and most importantly to the whole team, not just here in Spain but also everybody back in England. A proud weekend for the West McLaren Mercedes team.'

NORBERT HAUG
'Mika has deserved this win for a long time and once again he drove an excellent race, and David in his difficult situation did a fantastic job. The performance of the whole team was superb and compliments to the engineers for their brilliant race strategy. This was a perfect result considering that we haven't had a big advantage in our lap times during the weekend. Scoring 16 points under these circumstances just shows that we can get the job done.'