Spanish GP: McLaren race notes

The West McLaren Mercedes Team had a disappointing Spanish Grand Prix after both Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard retired from the race. Kimi remains in the lead of the Drivers' Championship with 32 points whilst David is fifth with 19. The West McLaren Mercedes team leads the Constructors' Championship with 51 points.

David Coulthard:

"I made a good start, passed a lot of cars and gained more positions after the first corner. Obviously I knew it was going to get messy through turn two as it was getting a bit close and as a result I tried to give as much space to the car in front as possible, but unfortunately Jarno ran into the back of me. As a result I had to pit but there was some damage to the floor, which made the car difficult to drive, but I still thought it would be possible to get some points until Jenson and I came together. I need to look at the footage to establish exactly what happened. All in all today's result is not good but that is motor racing and we will take it on the chin and bounce back at the next race."

Kimi Raikkonen:

"A terrible and very short race for me. I got off the line quickly and was beside one of the Minardis when all of a sudden there was nowhere to go but into the back of the stationary Pizzonia. A real shame but its one of those things which can happen when you start from the back."

Ron Dennis, team principal:

"A catalogue of problems starting with Kimi's mistake in qualifying and subsequent low grid position which lead to the collision with the stationary Pizzonia. David made a good start but then suffered a rear impact from Trulli which damaged his rear tyre and put him off the circuit and saw him requiring an early pitstop."

"David was then making good progress and was more than capable of finishing high in the points until suffering an off as a result of a somewhat badly judged overtaking manoeuvre from Button. Overall a disappointing weekend but Kimi still leads the Drivers' World Championship and the West McLaren Mercedes team the Constructors. We will now put this difficult weekend behind us and look to the future."

Norbert Haug, Mercedes motorsport director:

"This was not our weekend. Our plan was to have a long first stint but the crashes prevented this. In two weeks it's the Austrian Grand Prix -- we are looking forward to this."

David Coulthard: MP4-17D 09
Kimi Raikkonen: MP4-17D 06
T-car (Kimi): MP4-17D 07

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