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Post by Lee on Aug 6, 2004 10:50:20 GMT -5
Congrat Kimi :love1:
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Post by TennisHack on Aug 8, 2004 16:46:55 GMT -5
Finnish McLaren Mercedes Formula One driver Kimi Raikkonen and Jenni Dahlman were married in the castle of Vanajanlinna, Hameenlinna, Finland on Saturday July 31 2004. (AP Photo/ HO, Jan Lonnberg via Lehtikuva)
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Post by TennisHack on Aug 29, 2004 12:43:39 GMT -5
McLaren celebrates end of droughtSUNDAY 29TH AUGUST 2004 www.crash.net/uk/en/news_view.asp?cid=1&nid=98347In a season when red has come up more often than not on the Formula One roulette wheel, black naturally delighted in a rare success when Kimi Raikkonen got the better of Michael Schumacher to win the Belgian Grand Prix. It was only the second time in 14 races that Schumacher - whose second place was good enough to clinch a seventh world title - had been supplanted on top of the podium, but Raikkonen refused to buckle under the pressure of two late race restarts under the safety car, and brought joy to the black-suited McLaren team as he ended a 27-race run without victory that stretched back to his maiden success in Malaysia last season. Raikkonen moved to the front of the field after escaping two opening lap incidents, powering past Schumacher and McLaren team-mate David Coulthard to be best placed when the leading Renaults of Jarno Trulli and Fernando Alonso pitted and spun out respectively. Only losing his advantage during the two rounds of pit-stops that followed, Raikkonen still had to contend with having Schumacher's Ferrari right in his mirrors after two late-race incidents - the second involving the luckless Coulthard - bunched the field. "This is a tremendous result for the team - the whole day speaks for itself," team boss Ron Dennis managed to admit between what appeared to be tears of joy, "It was particularly satisfying taking into account the safety car deployment - and Kimi's fastest lap on the penultimate lap of the race was absolutely sensational." Despite having avoided the worst of the opening lap contact, Raikkonen later admitted that he had been in two minds whether to bring his car into the pits for attention after a brush with Felipe Massa's Sauber on the run to La Source. "The race was tough as I suffered a little damage to the floor of the car when Massa hit me from behind," he revealed, "However, while that did not hamper my performance too much, from lap eight onwards, I experienced problems with the downshift, which affected the breaking at the hairpin. Despite all this, though, we achieved an exceptional result. "I could not have hoped for a better result today. It has been a tough season, and we have been close to a good result a couple of times already. Finally, the good work of the entire team has been rewarded with a win."
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Post by TennisHack on Sept 25, 2004 14:15:27 GMT -5
China GP Pole press conference:
(Kimi came in #2)
Q: Kimi, a great-looking lap. Talk us through the weekend for McLaren-Mercedes. It obviously started quietly yesterday, as your team tends to, but gradually got more competitive as the weekend develops...
Kimi Raikkonen: Yeah, I think so. We've done quite a lot, because already yesterday the car felt pretty good. Today, I was a bit unhappy with the car in the morning, but then we improved it quite a lot for first qualifying, and the second was quick also. I got a little bit out of shape coming onto the straight on the last lap, but I don't think I lost enough to get first place, so I'm happy with second place. We have good tyres for the race and a good strategy.
Q: Kimi, is second on the grid a bit of a surprise or not?
KR: Not really. We have been pretty strong all weekend and, in the end, I made a small mistake in the last corner. I just got a bit too much oversteer and lost some time there, but I am happy with second place and I think we have a very good race strategy.
Q: You mentioned you were unhappy with the car. What was basically the problem with it?
KR: In the morning I was, not in qualifying. I think the car was pretty good in both qualifying sessions. In the morning, it seemed to be quite different to yesterday, so we changed set-ups and found a good solution.
Q: Are you quite happy with the tyre wear? A lot of people are complaining about understeer and, of course, these two long corners are particularly hard on the left front.
KR: No, I think the Michelins are working very well for us, and I don't think we will have any problems in the race. I am very confident for the race.
Q: (Sami Sillanpaa – Helsingin Sanomat) Kimi, the beginning of the season was very difficult for the whole team, and now something seems to be working for you. What has made the difference?
KR: We have the 19B, the new car, so that is the biggest difference from the start of the year. And, of course, the engine and everything has improved a lot and the whole package seems to work better together now and we seem to start getting the results.
Q: (Liang Yu – Oriental Sports Daily) Kimi, what did you think of your team-mate's performance today?
KR: You need to go and ask him. I better not say anything.
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Post by TennisHack on Sept 26, 2004 19:55:26 GMT -5
Raikkonen: We went for the winSUNDAY 26TH SEPTEMBER 2004 www.crash.net/uk/en/news_view.asp?cid=1&nid=100176McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen finished third in the inaugural Chinese Grand Prix, but admitted that he wasn't too disappointed as the team had attempted to jump him ahead of long-time leader Rubens Barrichello. Raikkonen held second place from the start of the race, but was unable to find a way around polewinner Barrichello, whose Ferrari appeared to have a slight edge on the McLaren. In an attempt to reverse their positions, McLaren opted to short fuel the Finn when he made his second of three scheduled stops - but only succeeded in playing into the hands of BAR's Jenson Button, who two-stop strategy took him to second place. "We took a little risk because I was always stuck behind Rubens," Raikkonen confirmed, "I tried to get past him in the pit-stop, but it didn't pay off and, actually, we lost the second place from that. But we are here to try to win the races and not to finish second, so I am not too disappointed right now." Raikkonen admitted that, the last few mph apart, he had been happy with his car, and almost retook second at the chequered flag as he closed in both of the cars ahead of him. "From the start of the race, we were quicker and the tyres were very consistent, so I think the whole package was good," he reported, "At the end of the race, it got quicker and quicker all the time. I was able to catch up with the others, but it was a bit too late. "I was quite happy with the car all the way through but, with the last set of tyres, I was struggling at the beginning. In the end, they came good again and I did all I could, but I wasn't able to get close enough." The Finn also revealed that, even if he had been able to catch Button and Barrichello, it may have difficult to pass them. "It's pretty okay to follow other people, but the problem is, if you don't get close enough, you cannot even try - and I was just a little bit too far away. I didn't have the speed on the back straight, so I was not able even to try to overtake."
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Post by TennisHack on Oct 24, 2004 15:52:53 GMT -5
Kimi lost the Brazilian GP by 1 second, again denied by Juan Pablo Montoya You can tell they really don't like each other from the trophy pics. It's going to be quite a year for McLaren in 2005 Kimi ended the year 7th in the drivers championship. Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen of McLaren-Mercedes holds his trophy for the second placed in Brazil's F1 GP, 24 October, 2004 in Sao Paulo. AFP PHOTO AFP PHOTO Vanderlei ALMEIDA
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Post by TennisHack on Jan 2, 2005 23:25:42 GMT -5
Kimi promoted from driver to team bossThursday November 04 2004 www.planet-f1.com/drivers/driver_news/kimi_raikkonen/story_17905.shtmlMcLaren driver Kimi Räikönnen will soon have another responsibility - that of F3 team boss. The Finn plans to buy a F3 team together with his manager Steve Robertson and to compete in next year's British championship. Mercedes are hoped to power the Woking-based squad in a Dallara chassis while current Carlin Motorsport engineer Anthony "Boyo" Hyatt will run the team and will be joined by his colleague Dave Bettany. "Kimi is a lover of racing, full stop. He's always wanted to have his own team and has talked about setting up something for karting in the past. Of course he'll be very busy, but he hopes to get to one or two rounds," Robertson told Autosport adding that: "The idea is that we're involved along with Kimi, but we want to find another Kimi. "We've found the most experienced guys we can with Boyo and Dave. Boyo is a very close friend of mine and he'll be the man behind it." Although Räikönnen Robertson Racing do not have a driver yet, they are in the final stages of signing a contract and it is speculated to be with Marko Asmer.
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Post by TennisHack on Jan 2, 2005 23:27:02 GMT -5
Kimi: 'I wish I were a normal chap'Wednesday December 01 2004 www.planet-f1.com/drivers/driver_news/kimi_raikkonen/story_18170.shtmlKimi Raikkonen said he wishes he was just a "normal chap" after humiliating photographs of him on a drinking spree in Gran Canaria recently appeared in the press. Former Formula One driver Hans-Joachim Stuck strongly criticized Raikkonen's conduct after the German newspaper Bild recently published photos of the Finn being so drunk that he had to be held up before he finally collapsed on the street. The commentator said that he could not imagine Michael Schumacher behaving in such a way. "A Formula 1 driver cannot drink publicly in such a way. Raikkonen is a role model for millions of children and young people," he told ITV. Although the 25-year-old apologised for his behaviour, he admitted that the pressure of being famous is becoming rather frustrating. "I was drunk all right? I had a few drinks and danced - why shouldn't I? Everyone relaxes in different ways. "Sometimes I wish I were just a normal chap."
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Post by TennisHack on Feb 5, 2005 15:38:34 GMT -5
Kimi's drinking sprees (and trouble) continueMonday January 24 2005 www.planet-f1.com/news/story_18492.shtmlKimi Raikkonen is once again in trouble as a result of his latest drinking spree which ended with his being thrown out of a London lapdancing club. The McLaren driver and some of his friends spent more than £5,000 on alcohol and table dances at the London Mayfair club 'For Your Eyes Only' on Wednesday night. The evening was going well when according to The Sunday People, Raikkonen, who was partying in a VIP section, suddenly dropped his pants and put on a display for a couple of lapdancers. The Finn's antics, which amazed and shocked the managers and other patrons, resulted in him and his friends being chucked out of the club. "I was gobsmacked," UJ, a manager at the club, told the newspaper. "I thought I'd seen most things in the lap dancing game but when I saw one of the world's top racing drivers sprawled there with his trousers undone I couldn't believe it." "I was working downstairs and got a call there was a problem. I raced up and at first I thought there was nothing wrong." "Then I looked again and Kimi's hand was there on his crotch with his trousers undone and his body exposed." "I shouted 'What the hell are you doing, get out now' but he waved me away. Fortunately it was nearly the end of the night and the house lights came on." "I sent away the two girls, Kimberly and Brody, and managed to get his group downstairs. It was too much." "He was drunk as a skunk and didn't care who saw what was going on." An eyewitness added: "Raikkonen was very arrogant and loud when he arrived - flashing his credit card for everyone to see but he didn't even use it and let mates pay the bill." "The girls were halfway through a dance and were about to remove their G-strings when the management spotted the driver with his trousers undone." "Every now and then you do get guys going over the top with the girls but you don't expect anyone to expose themselves - especially when they are a world famous millionaire racing car driver." Another member of staff condemn Raikkonen's behaviour, saying: "The girls are used to men coming on to them but Raikkonen overstepped the mark." "The poor girls were so embarrassed they didn't know where to look." "I feel sorry for his wife if that is the kind of thing she has to deal with." However, the Finn's best friend Christian Vine, who was with him on Wednesday night, has denied the allegations.
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Post by TennisHack on Feb 5, 2005 15:39:34 GMT -5
Kimi in trouble over latest drinking spreeTuesday January 25 2005 www.planet-f1.com/news/story_18508.shtmlKimi Raikkonen could be in trouble with McLaren after his alleged latest drinking spree made the headlines. The Finn was allegedly thrown out of a London lapdancing club after indecently displaying himself to two lapdancers. The 24-year-old reportedly spent more than 5,000 on booze and lapdancers for himself and his friends. Although a friend of his later denied the incident, Raikkonen isn't saying much about it. "I know where you are trying to go now but it doesn't make me any slower," Reuters quoted Raikkonen as having said when he was asked about his attitude at Barcelona, where he's testing the new McLaren MP4-20. "It's my private life so what I do in the car is completely different because I am for sure giving everything that I can to the team." "It's part of life. You cannot always believe all the things in the newspaper. It's not the first time for me and you just get used to it after a while." However, McLaren don't appear to have such a blasé attitude about the latest incident. "I'm aware of the media coverage that Kimi received over the course of the weekend," said McLaren F1 chief executive Martin Whitmarsh. "Certainly that's not a welcome thing, either for Kimi or the team." "Even if they (the reports) are not entirely true, the perception is extremely negative and that's something that we have to take seriously." "We've got a whole range of multi-national brands that are associated with our team and they don't invest in Formula One for this sort of imagery." "We'll take whatever steps to ensure that Kimi understands the seriousness of the situation." "I think he does and perhaps there was a touch of naivete about what happened here and he's learning that as a reputation starts to develop, you've got to be ultra-sensitive about having fun in a public place."
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Post by TennisHack on Feb 5, 2005 15:42:03 GMT -5
Kimi Grabs Pole... Dancer! Tuesday January 25 2005 It's James Hunt all over again, Kimi Raikkonen redefined a hot lap on a recent boozy visit to a London club. Dave Jorgensen revels in it. www.planet-f1.com/features/off_on_f1/story_18510.shtmlFor those of us who thought that F1 drivers were just too damn boring in the post-Irvine era, we have a new undisputed hero. The story broke across newspapers at the weekend that Kimi Raikkonen, the man most likely to take over Michael Schumacher’s world crown when the Red Baron calls it a day, had been caught misbehaving in a London lap dancing club. Top stuff. He’d gone there with some mates and was getting more than a bit carried away with the pole position of two of the girls. Anyway, the story goes that Kimi and his rowdy mates were chucked out onto the street, a scene not too dissimilar to a few months back when the drunken Finn was caught legless on a drinking spree in the Canary Isles. Bernie Ecclestone is always saying that F1 needs characters and looks back with rose-tinted specs at the days of laydees men such as James Hunt and Elio d Angelis or practical jokers like Graham Hill and Nelson Piquet. Now granted lap-dancing and drunkenness aren’t a lot of people’s ideas of a ‘real character’, but Kimi’s recent nights out with the lads have proved that he doesn’t fit in with the boring Mika Hakkinen/Michael Schumacher stereotype of a driver staying in for the night. The most outrageous thing that Michael ever does outside of an F1 car is to use a paddock scooter without a helmet. Living life on the edge for Schumi is adding salt to his meals without telling his dietician, or maybe flunking out of the last 10 of his 200 daily sit-ups. In the F1 Home for Retired Drivers you could imagine Mika and Michael happily doing jigsaws all day while Eddie Irvine customised his wheelchair and chased the nurses. It’s a shame that Ralf Schumacher bowed into public pressure and sold his investment in those Slovenian sex shops. While a lot of moralists were huffing and puffing about the ethics of what Ralf did with his own money, few seem to have considered the ethics of F1 drivers living in tax havens. Or maybe the fact that they’re helping promote one of the biggest causes of premature deaths on the planet - smoking. There are some of us who don’t expect our F1 drivers to be saints. Just as long as Ralf didn’t turn up to press conferences dressed in the latest range of bondage garments it would have been fine by us. Juan – Mr Blobby – Montoya gets criticised for his weight, but his weight gain is great. It shows he’s human and not some calculating, metronomic gym freak who lives his life by a set of tables. And it also looks very funny to have a fat guy on the grid. It reminds you of the 50’s when you needed all that girth to get you through six hours of racing. McLaren boss Ron Dennis always used to say that there were sides to Kimi that people outside the team don’t see – could this mean he has a massive plasma screen in the motor home and a range of unsuitable DVDs featuring shaven ravens – Mandy Does Monza and Sex-Crazed Sunita Does Silverstone? The McLaren CEO Martin Whitmarsh has come up with the ususal pompous executive talk "Even if they (the reports) are not entirely true, the perception is extremely negative and that's something that we have to take seriously." "We've got a whole range of multi-national brands that are associated with our team and they don't invest in Formula One for this sort of imagery." Oh, I dunno Mart, your average West Ballbuster loves men!!1 :hearts: smoker is gonna have a lot more in common with a bloke who knocks around in lap dancing clubs than they'll have with someone whose idea of relaxation is choosing a horse out of their private stable and going for a lovely ride in the mountains. Maybe McLaren ought to make the most of it and start looking for sponsorship with Spearmint Rhino, Anne Summers or Loaded Magazine. Don’t look it as a problem, Mart, look it as an opportunity. As Kimi has rightly said, it doesn't make him any slower in the car. Those big-investing sponsors would surely swap another couple of embarrassing visits to Mistress Punishment's House of Naked Correction for a McLaren MP4-20 that was as reliable as a Ferrari. Dave Jorgensen
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Post by TennisHack on Feb 18, 2005 16:38:35 GMT -5
McLaren 'severely damaged', Kimi injures hand.TUESDAY 15TH FEBRUARY 2005 - PAGE 1 OF 1 www.crash.net/uk/en/news_view.asp?cid=1&nid=105401Formula One's fast emerging 'playboy', Kimi Raikkonen, was in trouble this time on track as he suffered brake failure at the Barcelona circuit at the end of the first day's testing this week. The brake failure - believed to have been brought about by foreign body getting between the brake caliper and the brake disc - caused a heavy impact, severely damaging the McLaren MP4-20 chassis. The Finn, who was reported pictured during the F1 off season cuddling an inflatable dolphin after enjoying a night out, and has also been reported in the tabloid press as having enjoyed a private room in a London strip club, will not be driving on Wednesday as a precaution following the incident. Raikkonen had completed 83 laps under sunny clear skies at the Barcelona circuit, and was two-thirds of the way through a simulated Grand Prix run when the crash happened. Although the damage to the car was severe, all Kimi suffered was a bruised thumb. "I don't really know what happened," said Kimi after the incident. "It was quite a big impact and I'm a bit shaken up and have hurt my thumb. I'm not going to be testing tomorrow but hopefully Pedro [de la Rosa] will be able to complete the programme with the repaired car." Juan Montoya meanwhile was relieved to see that his team-mate was ok. "I'm pleased that Kimi is OK as it was quite a big impact," he added. "We completed most of the programme today. I had a small problem with a dragging clutch in the morning which hindered my running a bit, but at the end of the day that is what testing is all about - find the problems and solve them. We will continue the programme tomorrow and take it from there."
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Post by TennisHack on Feb 18, 2005 16:39:51 GMT -5
McLaren: Kimi 'fine' following crash.THURSDAY 17TH FEBRUARY 2005 - PAGE 1 OF 1 www.crash.net/uk/en/news_view.asp?cid=1&nid=105441Team McLaren-Mercedes have confirmed that Kimi Raikkonen is 'fine' following his crash Tuesday, after further medical check-ups yesterday. Raikkonen, who has now returned home to his native Finland, injured his thumb in the incident while testing at the Circuit de Catalunya, near Barcelona, in preparation for the new season. He has since been advised to rest - although no news on that thumb! As such McLaren test driver, Pedro de la Rosa stepped up to fill the void yesterday, eventually getting on track mid-morning, after the mechanics put in an overnighter to re-build the 'severely damaged' MP4-20. The extent of the damage to the car covered the front wing, left front corner, left side pod, left rear corner, and the rear crash structure. The crash occurred after Kimi suffered a brake failure - believed to have been brought about by foreign body getting between the brake caliper and the brake disc. McLaren will finish testing at Barcelona today [Thursday], before moving onto Valencia for another three-day test on Monday [February 21], their final test prior to the first grand prix, in Melbourne, Australia on March 6.
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Post by TennisHack on Apr 24, 2005 15:34:10 GMT -5
Raikkonen wins pole battle; race war still on SUNDAY 24TH APRIL 2005 www.crash.net/uk/en/news_view.asp?cid=1&nid=109267Kimi Raikkonen emerged 'victorious' in his nail-biting qualifying duel with championship leader Fernando Alonso, but will know as well as anyone that battle to break Renault's dominance is far from over. Raikkonen took advantage of a warming circuit, and knowing exactly how hard he had to push, to beat Alonso's combined target time of 2min 43.441secs, but showed just how keen he was to take the first non-Renault pole of the year by extending his overnight three-thousandths advantage to more than half a second by the time he crossed the line. Alonso hadn't exactly been hanging about, determined to stretch the regie's pole record to four for the year, but even a near perfect lap could not prevent McLaren from breaking the monopoly. The MP4-20 has clearly found a way to get heat into its rear tyres - Imola wasn't exactly basking during the session - allowing Raikkonen an early bit of weekend glory. Third overnight, thentifosi would have been hoping that their darling, Michael Schumacher, could make an impact in the second session - but the only place the German left his mark was in the gravel at Rivazza, the F2005 running out of road and scrabbling for grip before eventually rejoining. The uncharacteristic error proved costly, though, with the world champion relegated to an eventual 13th - and even that was one place better than he merited after Felipe Massa' engine penalty dropped him behind the Ferrari. Into Schumi's spot rose Jenson Button, the Briton again revelling in the revised BAR to leap-frog Mark Webber's Williams. Again, the Australian did not do a bad job in the FW27, although his lap was not quite up to the standard of his tyre-managed Saturday effort, and Button took full advantage of the scant two-hundredths margin between them to snatch the inside of row two. Schumacher's error allowed Webber to remain fourth, however. Jarno Trulli claimed a solid fifth for Toyota, despite the TF105 still not looking entirely at home around the Imola circuit, and will line up alongside the second BAR-Honda of Takuma Sato. The Japanese ace was the biggest gainer of the session, climbing from tenth to sixth, and vaulting Alex Wurz, the hapless Massa, Schumacher and Nick Heidfeld in the process. Wurz and Heidfeld occupy row four, both losing time in the final sector, with Rubens Barrichello and Ralf Schumacher filling out the top ten. Heading the second half of the grid will be Jacques Villeneuve, the Canadian again showing his growing confidence in the Sauber, but losing a fraction under braking for Rivazza, where the Swiss car locked a wheel - albeit without the sort of consequence that cost former rival Schumacher so dearly. Villeneuve will share row six with Giancarlo Fisichella, the Italian gaining three positions with a solid, if less than tidy lap. There was no suggestion, however, that Fisi had run a lighter fuel load in an attempt to gain ground, and it will be interesting to see how long the Roman runs at the start of the race. Schumacher Sr lines up on the inside of row seven, which he will share with old sparring partner David Coulthard. Neither Red Bull Racing car looked to have enough pace to climb the order in session two, and DC retained 14th. New team-mate Vitantonio Liuzzi will line up one place behind the Scot, taking advantage of Massa's misfortune. The Sauber driver drops behind both Jordans, into 18th spot, and it remains to be seen if he will opt to start from the pit-lane with the benefits that offers. As expected, the two brand new Minardis fill the final row, with Patrick Friesacher moving ahead of team-mate Christijan Albers as the result of the Dutchman's off at Variante Alta. Despite being up on the clocks, Albers failed to catch the slide invoked by the PS05, and nosed heavily into the retaining wall, fortunately without any obvious injury. Team boss Paul Stoddart has already voiced his concern over the car's ability to finish the first race, but now half his garage has work to do to make sure one of them can start.
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Post by TennisHack on Apr 24, 2005 15:38:16 GMT -5
Race reactions - San Marino Grand Prix www.crash.net/uk/en/news_view.asp?cid=1&nid=109307&apn=7Kimi Raikkonen: "Unfortunately, my race was cut short as a result of a failure in the left driveshaft. Obviously, I am disappointed as I had a great start and was really building on my lead. At least we know that the car has the pace in both qualifying as well as the race and, with some improvements due for Spain in two weeks, I am looking forward to a good race there."
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Post by TennisHack on May 8, 2005 17:47:20 GMT -5
Kimi: Win was vital for title hopes SUNDAY 8TH MAY 2005 www.crash.net/uk/en/news_view.asp?cid=1&nid=110413Spanish Grand Prix winner Kimi Raikkonen has admitted that victory was essential if he was to consider himself a contender for this year's world championship title. Having been robbed of what could have been a first win of the year at Imola two weeks ago, the Finn made no mistake, and enjoyed a reliable McLaren, to romp away from the field in Barcelona, lifting himself to third place in the standings after five rounds. "Of course, I had hoped this would have happened at the last race, because it would have helped us a lot in the championship," Raikkonen admitted, "Basically, we don't have much to lose any more, and we need to win the races. That's the only chance to get back in [the title fight]. Its going to be difficult, but it's a long season and you never know what is going to happen in a race."
The Finn now lies 27 points adrift of championship leader Fernando Alonso, who finished second in Spain, and might come to regret not seeing the chequered flag in the San Marino round. However, he insists that there is still a long way to go in the season.
"I think what happened two weeks ago was one of those unfortunate things that hadn't happened before, but you never know in racing - anything can happen," he stressed, "You cannot be 100 per cent sure that you are going to win, not even if you have a lead like I had, so you just try to take care of the car, the tyres and everything."
Unlike Imola, Raikkonen was able to convert his early advantage into a big lead in Spain, pulling away at almost a second a lap so that, when he made his two scheduled pit-stops, he was able to rejoin in front of the field. Despite that, however, it wasn't entirely plain sailing for the McLaren man.
"I'd like to say it was perfect, but I had some small problem on a pit-stop when the engine did not run very clean when I tried to pull away," he revealed, "I don't know what it was, but it wasn't a major problem. The engine almost died, but then it started to go before the end of the pit-lane. At the second stop, I was very careful about going slowly out of the box...
"Other than that, the tyres were very good. The circuit is not as hard on the tyres now they have resurfaced it, and I could have gone much quicker at the end if I had wanted, but there was no reason to push, so I would say the tyres worked very well."
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Post by TennisHack on May 8, 2005 17:49:41 GMT -5
Raikkonen repaid in Barcelona SUNDAY 8TH MAY 2005 www.crash.net/uk/en/news_view.asp?cid=1&nid=110402Kimi Raikkonen showed just what he had been denied at Imola a fortnight ago by blitzing the Spanish Grand Prix field from start to finish at the Circuit de Catalunya, and taking his first win of the season as a reward. The Finn had eased himself onto pole position in morning qualifying and, with Mark Webber alongside in the Williams-BMW, must have hoped that he would have an early buffer between himself and the chasing Renaults and Toyotas. The start didn't quite work out as Raikkonen had planned but, in the event, it didn't really matter as, having got the drop on the rest of the field, the McLaren pulled away at almost a second a lap in the opening stages. Webber's getaway was so poor that Ralf Schumacher also got past the BMW-powered Australian, a situation made all the more galling for Webber when the safety car appeared at the end of the lap. At the other end of the grid, both Minardis remained stranded just yards from where they had lined up on the eighth row of the grid, the victims of identical software programming errors Having seen his pace controlled for two laps, Raikkonen was in no mood to hang about when the safety car returned to the pits, and darted away at the resumption, opening an immediate gap on his pursuers. By the end of the lap, the Finn enjoyed a 1.6secs advantage over Alonso, with Schumacher, Webber, Trulli and Giancarlo Fisichella in close attention. Seventh place was the first to change hands once racing began in earnest, Juan Montoya atoning for having been pushed onto the grass at the start by diving inside Michael Schumacher at turn one. The Colombian almost undid his good work by spinning through 360 degrees on lap seven, but it was symptomatic of his pace compared to that of the world champion that Schumacher was in no position to re-pass. Indeed, the German has David Coulthard - buoyed by a new Red Bull chassis - sniffing at the gearbox of his Ferrari, with Felipe Massa again keeping tabs on his Imola sparring partner. With the two Minardis having been fired up in pit-lane in order to rejoin the fray, Vitantonio Liuzzi became the race's first retirement, spinning deep into the gravel at turn eleven to cap an erratic second grand prix, The yellow flags had barely been withdrawn when Patrick Friesacher did likewise with his Minardi a couple of corners further on, and team-mate Christijan Albers completed a disappointing day for the Italian minnow by parking up on lap 22. By that stage, the first of the pit-stops had begun, and it was no surprise to see Webber beating everyone in for fuel. The Australian's stunning Sunday qualifying performance smacked of a lighter fuel load, making his problems getting off the line all the more disappointing. The length of stop, however, suggested that what had started out as a potential three-stop race had been switched to a two-stopper in an attempt to snag some points for Grove following Nick Heidfeld's demotion to the rear of the grid. Raikkonen by now enjoyed an 18-second advantage over Alonso, and the Spaniard appeared to be in some trouble as the two Toyotas homed in on the back of the Renault. Of all the races to begin to suffer reliability problems, this was not the one the points leader would have chosen, the stands awash with the blue-and-yellow flags of Asturias, coincidentally mirroring the colours of his car. For four laps, Alonso kept Schumacher and Trulli at bay, before the German dived for the pits. Trulli followed the leader in a lap later, before Alonso followed suit on lap 27. If observers had caught their breath when blue smoke emerged from Raikkonen's exhaust, the Finn did not appear to concerned, rejoining ahead of the field and beginning to re-establish the gap that had served him so well first time around. Alonso, too, was happier, the Renault running cleaner than it had in his first stint and now enjoying clear air back to the chasing Toyotas. The Cologne assault was now being led by Trulli, who had managed to vault ahead of his team-mate during his stop, the legacy of running a lap longer than Schumacher had managed. Temporarily into second and third came Fisichella and Schumacher Sr, both running longer still. The pair eventually completed their first stops on laps 29 and 32 respectively, rejoining in positions either side of crowd favourite Alonso. Fisichella looked particularly racy, and held a comfortable cushion over his team-mate, while Schumacher, now fourth on the road, appeared set for definite points, if not another podium. The German was now untroubled by Montoya, the unfortunate Colombian having had to make a second stop for fuel after the nozzle on his tank refused to open first time around. Having just enough fuel left in the car for another lap, JPM dropped to the tail of the top ten when he finally rejoined again. Montoya was not the only driver to suffer ill-luck, however, for, just as Renault appeared to be able to up its pace in the middle part of the race, Fisichella also appeared back in the pits unexpectedly. There was no obvious damage to the R25, and no puncture to attend to, but the mechanics set about changing the front wing and checking the suspension, eventually costing the Italian around a minute. That dropped him back to 13th, seemingly out of the points. Webber began the second round of 'real' stops on lap 43, only to be followed into the pits by the world champion. Again, Schumacher caught his team on the hop, Ferrari not having expected to see him quite so soon, but, with the left rear punctured, emergency surgery was required on the F2005. Incredibly, at the end of his out lap, having narrowly avoided collecting both McLarens as he rejoined, Schumacher was in trouble again, this time the left front letting go as he braked for turn one. Again, the German managed to keep from making contact with Montoya but, by the time he had limped back to the pits, the suspension had cried enough and the car was parked for good. The shake-up had allowed Toyota to resume its hunt for a podium, with Schumacher Jr sensing his first pot of the year as he closed in on team-mate Trulli. The Italian, however, has been hardened by his own success this season, and successfully defended his position to the flag, again helped by a marginally quicker final stop than Schumacher. On a track used extensively for testing, perhaps it was no surprise to see teams running two-by-two, with Renault and Toyota having managed it at various stages in the race. Backmarkers Jordan and Minardi aside - and both minnows saw their share of inter-necine dicing - Williams also found its two FW27s running nose-to-tail at one point, despite Webber and Heidfeld starting from opposite ends of the grid. The German made his move stick this time, but the situation was skewed as he still had a final stop to make, allowing Webber to resume his pursuit of points alone. The Australian was elevated to fifth when Coulthard and Montoya made their final stops, but now had the recovering Fisichella right on his rear wing. The Italian harried his Sepang assailant for several laps before making the speed differential between Renault and Williams tell into turn one on lap 64. Having given himself a clear road, Fisico then set about dismantling Raikkonen's new lap record, set repeatedly in the early stages, eventually stopping the clocks at 1min 15.641secs - 1.8secs quicker than the old record - on the very last lap. His team-mate, however, was not going to get the prize he most wanted for Raikkonen was too far in front to be caught over the last few laps. Even though Felipe Massa showed that Michelin was potentially in as much trouble with wear as Bridgestone, the McLaren - notoriously easy on its tyres - continued to sail serenely on. Raikkonen had again rejoined in front after his second stop, and the gap was up to almost 30secs by the flag, despite Alonso claiming that his car was working the best it had all race. After Imola, the MP4-20's performance was fitting reward for Raikkonen's frustration, allowing him to underline the fact that the world championship may yet be more than a one-horse race. Somehow, the victory was only the third of the Finn's career, but he must surely head to Monaco as favourite for number four...
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Post by TennisHack on May 8, 2005 18:20:26 GMT -5
Qualifying press conference:
Q: Kimi, from where you went out yesterday, very early on Saturday afternoon, you must be delighted now to be on pole?
Kimi Raikkonen: I am happy now after qualifying yesterday I wasn't too happy with myself because I made a mistake but I knew that if I could keep it on the road it should be pretty okay because the difference between first and third yesterday was so small. I am happy for the team and for myself. It is the best place to start the race and hopefully we can have a good race.
Q: Well it is still incredibly close of course but in your mind I guess is the question of reliability now and you need to finish this race hopefully and obviously take advantage of your pole?
KR: Yes we just need to have a good start I think and after that they should be sorted but you never know what happens in a race so I think we have a good race car and hopefully we are going to have a good race.
Q: Conditions today? It looks beautiful out there….
KR: Yes, the circuit was good and I would say it is as good as yesterday. So, no problems at all. The car felt pretty much the same as yesterday, maybe just a little bit more loose, but it is quite normal with more fuel.
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Post by TennisHack on May 8, 2005 18:26:21 GMT -5
Post-race press conference:
Q: Kimi, after all the promise, poles and speed, a great and reliable run from start to finish…
Kimi Raikkonen: Yes, it was very good, the car has been perfect the whole weekend and we knew that we should be pretty strong in the race. From the beginning, I pushed until the pit stop and then I saw I was leading by so much that there was no point really, anymore to put the car under so much pressure so I kept the pace up, but I didn't go full speed and won quite easily. Finally, it happened. Last race was close already. I am very happy for myself and also for the other people who have put so much effort into the car and everybody is working hard and finally we get some results. The test team has done well and everybody is working perfectly. So, hopefully we can now start winning more.
Q: It was a slightly disruptive start with the Safety Car coming out. Talk us through that. And, also, your thoughts in the closing stages bearing in mind your problems this year when the chequered flag approached…
KR: Of course, you can never be 100 per cent sure until you cross the finish line so there is also something that can happen, but so far, in this race, it was perfect, but I had some small problem on a pit stop when the engine did not run very clean when I tried to pull away and I don't know what it was, but not a major problem and on the start of the race I had already a little gap and then in the third or fourth corner I saw some yellow flags and Safety Car signs and so I slowed down straightaway, but I don't know what happened really because it happened at the back of the field.
Q: And going into this race, a very technical circuit, a lot of debate about how the tyres will perform with these new regulations, your thoughts on that…
KR: No. The tyres were very good, I think. So, the circuit is not as hard on the tyres as it used to be now they have resurfaced it. I could have done much quicker in the end if I had wanted, but there was no reason to push anymore so I would say the tyres worked very well, they lasted great…
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Q: Kimi, just returning to you, what is it about McLaren, Finland and Barcelona? Mika Hakkinen, your countryman, three victories here and now you have got a victory, is something going on?
KR: Yes, it seems to be a good place for us, for the team and for the Finnish people. But I hope it would have happened already last race because it would have helped us a lot in the championship because, basically, we don't have much to lose any more and we need to win the races and that's the only chance to get back in it. Its going to be difficult, but it's a long season and you never know what is going to happen in a race so we need to do our best and hopefully we can get back there.
Press conference:
Q: Kimi, fantastic pace early on, or throughout the race, can that be translated to all circuits do you feel?
KR: Yes, we were quick at the last race so I would say we were quicker compared to the other cars here than we were at the last race at Imola, so I would say that we should be okay at every race. Okay, Monaco is a bit special place so it is hard to say before, but I think some of the races, I see no reason why we should be any slower so I am quite hopeful and we are going to get more parts for Monaco and I think at the Nurburgring after that, so hopefully we can improve it still.
Q: Were you fairly confident about reliability in spite of what happened two weeks ago?
KR: Yes, I think what happened two weeks ago was one of those unfortunate things that hadn't happened before so I was not worried about it, but you never know in racing, anything can happen ? you just don't know so before you finish a race you cannot be 100 per cent sure you are going to win or not even if you have a lead like I had so I just try to take care of the car, the tyres and everything and drive easily back to the finish.
Q: Were there any worries at all during the race?
KR: Yes, a little bit at the first pit stop, when I left there, the engine almost died, but then it started to go before the end of the pit lane and then at the second stop I was very careful about going slow out of the box, but at least I got out of there and I don't really know what was wrong. Some small thing with the engine so I don't think it is a problem when you are on the circuit. But it is just when you are on low throttle so…
Q: Did they tell you to change anything for the next stop?
KR: Yes, basically not to take a quick getaway, but to go slowly away and it should be okay. I was quite careful because I didn't need to worry so it took quite a while but it was better like that.
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Questions from the floor:
Q: (Stephane Barbe ? l'Equipe) Kimi, apart from the reliability, what are the qualities of your car and what sort of progress would you say you have made since Imola?
Kimi Raikkonen: It's always difficult to say from circuit to circuit what has changed. We only know from testing. We have new parts, new engine. All of those together makes a difference. As I said, we are going to get more new things for the car, so I'm pretty hopeful we can improve it even more, but overall the car was perfect everywhere. I cannot really pick up one place where it wasn't strong, even if we were not pushing the engine hard any more in the race. I would say it was really good, one of the best cars I have driven.
Q: (Heikki Kulta ? Turun Sanomat) Kimi, does this change anything in the championship fight?
KR: Yeah, a little bit. We have more points, more points [laughter] but I would say that we pretty much don't have anything to lose. We really need to win the races and see where we end up. We just need to do the best we can because I don't know how many points we are behind? I think if we had won the last race it would have been a different story, but now there's not much to lose so we just push as hard as we can and hopefully we can come back, because it's a long season and anything can happen. Maybe Renault have some bad races and we have some good ones ? you never know, so? let's see what happens.
Q: (Laurentzi Garmendia ? Berria) To all three of you, were you afraid of Michael Schumacher being able to fight back again as he did in the last race?
KR: Yeah, you never know because at the last race they were quick, but that was a different circuit, different day. You could see already a little bit in testing on Friday and Saturday that they were not exactly as strong as they were in the last race, so I was not worried about that, but you never really can say before you see the race. At Imola, you could see on Friday and Saturday that they already had the pace. Here it wasn't as clear but I was still waiting for them to do something good, but I don't think they had a very good day.
Q: (Juha Paatalo – Financial Times Germany) Kimi, could you describe your feeling as you climbed the podium today?
KR: It's always nice really, especially when you win. But I would say it doesn't change my life much in the end. It's just one win, we need to do it more and it's a nice feeling, but I wouldn't say that it's anything else. You rather win than not finish or finish second, so hopefully we have many of these things coming.
Q: (Juha Paatalo) I think the King said something to you as well, because you smiled in answer. Could you tell us what?
KR: Very well done, I guess. He came to see me before the race already, so it was very nice. He's a nice King. (Laughter)
Q: (Dominic Fugere – Le Journal de Montreal) Kimi, you've said that you had great pace right from the start of the race but your team-mate Juan Pablo seemed to have a little bit of a problem keeping up the same pace. Why do you think that is?
KR: I don't know. You really need to ask him yourself. It's the first race when he's come back after his injury so it's never easy and maybe he didn't find the perfect set-up. When you add all those things together maybe that makes the difference.
Q: (Anthony Rowlinson – Autosport) Question to all three of you: do you think Michael Schumacher can still fight for the drivers' title this year and Ferrari for the constructors' title?
KR: I think so, as much as we can. It's hard to say, but like I've said many times: you never know what's going to happen in races. You need a few bad races for the other guys and the whole table is suddenly different. As long as we do well… I think it's hard to catch Renault if they keep doing what they're doing all the time, so we will see what happens.
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Post by TennisHack on May 8, 2005 18:28:06 GMT -5
Ron Dennis warns 'extremely dominant' McLaren will improveSunday May 08 2005 www.planet-f1.com/news/story_19459.shtmlRon Dennis has warned that McLaren will improve on their "extremely dominant" win at the Spanish GP. Kimi Raikkonen led from start to finish at Barcelona to take his first win of the season. His boss didn’t quite go as far as cracking a smile afterwards, but there was no doubting his jubilation. "We're delighted with the win, but even more delighted with the nature of the win: extremely dominant. "Frustrated because Montoya could have been third but for a problem with the nozzle, and that's one of those things in motor racing but it's frustrating when we could have had a really good result. "Still, we're here to win and that's what we’ve done." And the McLaren boss is convinced that there will be more wins to come for both the team and his number one driver this season. "Kimi is coming to his peak. He's settled down well after a difficult start to the year, but I think he's going to be very strong for the balance of the season. "I think we'll be able to keep this momentum going. We have a very, very good racing car, had a good step on the engine here, and I'm very confident that the additional improvements we have in the pipeline will keep us ahead." It's a sentiment echoed by Spanish GP victor Raikkonen, who after the race ominously warned his rivals: "I could have gone much quicker at the end but there was no reason to push hard."
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Post by TennisHack on May 9, 2005 12:05:41 GMT -5
Race winner Kimi Raikkonen of Finland and McLaren (C) stands on the podium with second place Fernando Alonso (L) of Spain and Renault and third placed Jarno Trulli (R) of Italy and after the Formula One Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya May 8, 2005 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images) Formula One driver Kimi Raikkonen, top, from Finland lifts the trophy received from Spain's King Juan Carlos after winning the Spanish Grand Prix on the Montmelo race track in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, May 8, 2005. (AP Photo/Jasper Juinen) Formula One driver Kimi Raikkonen from Finland celebrates winning the Spanish Grand Prix on the Montmelo race track in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, May 8, 2005. (AP Photo/Jasper Juinen)
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Post by TennisHack on May 12, 2005 1:00:35 GMT -5
McLaren warn Ferrari: 'Hands off Kimi'Tuesday May 10 2005 www.planet-f1.com/news/story_19490.shtmlRon Dennis has made it clear to Ferrari that when the time comes to replace Michael Schumacher they needn’t bother asking Kimi Raikkonen because he’s not for sale. Raikkonen, who won Sunday’s Spanish GP, has long been tipped together with Renault’s Fernando Alonso as Schumacher’s heir apparent both on the track and at Ferrari. However, while Dennis agrees that Raikkonen could succeed Schumacher as the Formula One World Champion, the McLaren boss is adamant that he won’t be succeeding him as Ferrari’s number one driver. "It's always flattering when people are attracted to our drivers," he told the Daily Mirror. "But Kimi is part of our family and I intend it to stay that way. Kimi is not only contracted but he is also settled." "He is an outstanding driver and at an age where his best is yet to come. We have every intention that, as that unfolds, it unfolds in a McLaren." However, Dennis needn’t worry about Ferrari making a play for Raikkonen at the moment because Schumacher isn’t yet ready to retire. "When a driver comes along I cannot compete with, I am not competitive or I am no longer enjoying myself I will go," the reigning Champion said. He also refuted claims that disappointments such as his Spanish GP retirement would lead him to consider retiring. "I don't feel more pressure after this race's result,” he said. "If I was leading I would have to look ahead and over my shoulder at those chasing me. Now I only have one way to look."
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Post by TennisHack on Jun 13, 2005 1:16:18 GMT -5
What is it with Kimi winning the crazy races? Raikkonen wins amid chaos and controversy (link embedded) Kimi Raikkonen got his world championship challenge back on track with a win in an incident-packed Canadian Grand Prix that saw several leading runners forced to retire, and one more excluded after a pit-lane misdemeanour. The Finn was only seventh on the grid after qualifying at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, but that mattered little as those ahead of him - including both Renaults - self-destructed on a hot and humid day. Renault appeared odds-on for victory in the opening stages, with both Giancarlo Fisichella and Fernando Alonso vaulting past the front row pairing of Jenson Button and Michael Schumacher to lead by the first corner. Button had reported a gear selection problem on the warm-up lap, and appeared cautious at the getaway, while the BAR's slow formation pace did for Schumacher, as the Ferrari's Bridgestone tyres cooled below the ideal temperature for a slingshot start. Such was the world champion's laggardly reaction to the lights, Juan Montoya was able to muscle his way through between turns one and two, and Raikkonen not long afterwards. Schumacher eventually settled into sixth, with Jarno Trulli, Takuma Sato and the fast-starting Felipe Massa keeping him honest. Out front, the two blue-and-yellow R25s began to stretch away, with Fisichella and Alonso taking it in turns to set fastest laps, while Button also enjoyed a couple of seconds' advantage over the chasing McLarens, courtesy of their having to get around Schumacher. The order remained the same through the first ten laps, but the question of qualifying fuel loads was soon to be answered. Already visiting the pits - and causing thousands of local hearts to sink - was Jacques Villeneuve, the Sauber driver asking for a new front wing, despite his original part not looking too damaged. Mark Webber delayed his attempt to move up the order by running too deep into the hairpin while trying to replicate Ralf Schumacher's early pass on David Coulthard, while Narain Karthikeyan continued his Montreal spin-fest with another rotation, this time at turn one, causing Jordan team-mate Tiago Monteiro to take avoiding action. The first scheduled pit-stop came on lap twelve, and it was no surprise to see Schumacher Sr the man to set the klaxons blaring. Ferrari's gamble in running the world champion light to try and give him a good starting spot to overcome Bridgestone's qualifying woes dropped the German to eleventh, but with much of the race to unwind, still in with the chance of points. Polewinner Button wasn't far behind Schumacher, stopping three laps later and rejoining in seventh, handing the battle for the race to Renault and McLaren, as many had expected to be the case from the start of the weekend. Fisichella continued to lead, despite Alonso appearing to have the quicker Renault, but refused to let his team-mate past as he sought to exorcise the bad luck that has plagued him since Melbourne. The pair continued to run in tandem, Alonso closing in unless delayed by backmarkers - particularly Christian Klien after the Austrian exited the pits in front of the championship leader - until lap 24, when the Spaniard finally pitted for fuel. His edge in pace was not only down to a lighter car, however, as Fisichella pitted a lap later, but Alonso was unable to make the most of stopping first as he resumed in second once the window had unwound. Fisichella managed to hold his lead through the pit-stops, but Alonso should, by rights, have dropped to third, as Montoya appeared to have the advantage as he exited from his stop. Instead, however, the Colombian's haste to remain in the fight got the better of him, the McLaren's rear stepping out of line as he applied the gas, and sending the car on a rough ride over the verge before Montoya could regain the track. The error wasn't enough to allow team-mate Raikkonen to take advantage, but set the tone for the rest of Montoya's afternoon.... Karthikeyan retired from the fray having whacked the wall and damaged the right rear of his Jordan before limping back to the pits on lap 26. Webber, Barrichello and Villeneuve were still to stop for fuel at that point, although the Canadian was already hampered by having made his early call for repairs. Webber finally stopped on lap 28, his Williams clearly having been heavy in qualifying to try and make up for his early spot in the running order, while Barrichello had been topped up in pit-lane after his qualifying disaster left him at the back of the field. Renault continued to enjoy a distinct advantage over McLaren as the halfway point loomed, but Alonso only got his chance to pass Fisichella after the team had tersely told him to try and overtake, rather than complaining that he was faster than the Italian. When the move came, it appeared that Fisi had decided to let it happen, but the long-time leader was actually in trouble, as Montoya and Raikkonen also caught and passed him in short order. A hydraulics problem was diagnosed, and it was an understandably frustrated Fisichella that stalked to the back of the garage. Twelve months ago, the first cracks began to show in Renault's defence of second place in the 2004 constructors' championship, as both Alonso and then team-mate Jarno Trulli were forced out of the running. Incredibly, within six laps of inheriting the lead, Alonso was also spotted slowing on the track, the rear of his R25 looking wayward as he tried to make it back to the pits. Under increasing pressure from the chasing McLarens, the Spaniard had lost his customary cool and repeated Karthikeyan's error of slapping the turn four concrete. Hoping that the resultant puncture could be rectified, Alonso was dismayed to find that the accompanying suspension breakage could not... Renault's suicide pact meant that, with 40 of the 70 laps in the book, Montoya assumed control of the event, leading for the first time as a McLaren driver, but with the spectre of Raikkonen's championship challenge casting something of a shadow over the achievement. Would McLaren decide to engineer a change of position? Or would the team recognise JPM's own proximity in points to the Finn and allow him to run unhindered to the flag? The answer came seven laps further on, as the chasing Button lost his BAR over the recently raised kerbs at the final chicane. The Briton had been coming under increased pressure from Schumacher's Ferrari, but decided not to opt for the escape road in an attempt to make up for his mistake on entry to the corner. The result was a wild ride into the so-called 'wall of champions', breaking the 007's right front suspension on contact. As the BAR slid to a halt against the outside wall, so the safety car was scrambled to facilitate its removal. That created just the opportunity McLaren may have been looking for, and it was Raikkonen who joined the rush for pit-lane as the pace was slowed. Montoya, by contrast, was left out to trundle around behind the safety car for another lap, eventually coming in for his top-up when most of the field was already back in line. Whether frustrated or over-enthusiastic, the Colombian sprinted out of pit-lane for the second time in the space of an hour, muscling his way in front of David Coulthard's Red Bull, despite the Scot appearing to have held track position. The move was expected to attract the attention of the stewards - as had McLaren's decision to release Raikkonen in front of DC as both exited the pits at the same time - but when notification of the investigation was confirmed, it was for an altogether different offence. While Raikkonen's exit was not deemed worthy of further examination, Montoya was accused of having left the pit-lane while the red light was still illuminated. With the pace car passing the pits at that exact time, the McLaren man should have held back, rejoining at the back of the line. Instead, regardless of his shouldering of Coulthard, his race was done, the offence bringing punishment by black flag... Montoya joined a growing list of former competitors on the sideline, with Patrick Friesacher having stopped his Minardi three laps after Alonso, and Nick Heidfeld parking his smoking Williams just one tour further on. The German had been warned about rising temperatures as he diced with Massa, but eventually the BMW V10 could take no more. Scratching his name from the list, meanwhile, was Takuma Sato, the Japanese driver having rejoined the race after 24 laps of work on his stricken BAR. Sato seemed to have become the first casualty of the race when his gearbox went sick on 22, but the team took the decision to scavenge what they could from the spare car in an attempt to get the 007 back on track in time to boost its position in the running order for USGP qualifying. Sato eventually rejoined shortly before his team-mate hit the wall, but still required quick attrition to rise much higher up the order. The mixture of chaos and controversy left Raikkonen out front, despite the presence of the about-to-be-lapped Ralf Schumacher at the head of the queue when it was finally released. The German was quickly disposed of, but Raikkonen would have the word 'Schumacher' firmly at the front of his mind for the rest of the day. The world champion's mix of reliability and resilience had elevated him to second on the road - and the Ferrari, now with its tyres up to temperature, was closing slowly but surely on the leader. To add to the confusion, there were reports of rain in the air, a possible pre-cursor to thunderstorms to accompany the humidity, but these eventually amounted to nothing, leaving Raikkonen and Schumacher to go head-to-head to the finish. Montoya's exclusion had lifted Trulli into an unexpected third place, but the Italian was not destined to take another podium finish as his Toyota suffered brake failure on the run to the final chicane. Fortunately, Trulli was able to direct his car at the escape lane built in to the obstacle, but it wasn't until the first corner that he was finally able to park up and climb out. The Toyota's exit completed Barrichello's recovery, allowing the Brazilian to slot in to third despite having started from the pit-lane. The Ferrari driver was comfortably clear of the battle for fourth place between Massa and Webber, but equally not in a position to threaten the leaders, having already conceded around 40 seconds to them as he fought his way through the field. Massa and Webber continued their fight right to the flag, the Australian missing out by 0.6secs despite a concerted look into the final chicane, Ralf Schumacher followed them across the line, but enough of a distance to ensure he was the first of the lapped runners home. Coulthard and Klien completed the scorers, thanking the Red Bull team's reliability rather than outright speed, while the recovering Villeneuve missed out by one place on adding to his tally. Raikkonen and Schumacher Sr continued their dice to the line, too, but the world champion was never quite able to close the gap sufficiently to have a look at the leader. As they flashed across the line, just over a second split silver from red, Raikkonen celebrating as he redressed the points balance after his last-lap exit at the Nurburgring.
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Post by Lee on Jun 17, 2005 13:21:39 GMT -5
A closeup on Kimi's tattoo on his right wrist (too bad that ugly scar is there too)
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Post by TennisHack on Jul 31, 2005 13:36:36 GMT -5
Hungarian GP report: Kimi enjoys change in fortuneSunday July 31 2005 Kimi Raikkonen enjoyed a rare change in fortune to take victory in the Hungarian GP and close the gap on World Championship leader Fernando Alonso. For once it was Alonso and Kimi's McLaren team-mate, Juan Montoya, who suffered from the fickle hand of fate. Montoya was forced to retire from the race whilst leading, effectively handing Kimi the win, while Alonso’s struggles were compounded by a first-lap accident with Ralf Schumacher. The Spaniard was forced to pit and never recovered, finishing outside of the points on a day of abject misery for Renault. The knock-on effect of Alonso’s woes was felt forcibly by David Coulthard, the Scot crashing out of the race on lap one after hitting the discarded bodywork from the Renault. Red Bull endured possibly the shortest grand prix of any team, with Christian Klien spectacularly crashing out on the first corner after tangling with Jacques Villeneuve. Ferrari, though, had reason to cheer with Michael Schumacher securing a solid second place, with brother Ralf taking his third for his first podium of the season. Grand Prix Report: It was a hot (but not Malaysian GP hot) afternoon on the outskirts of Budapest as the cars lined up on the grid in sunny conditions – 34 C ambient and 46C on the track. Juan-Pablo Montoya had managed to damage his car on the way to the line after he ran over a BAR-Honda generator. Two mechanics parted to let him through, but left the equipment on the tarmac.The McLaren team had put his car back together in time for the race, though. As the red lights went out Michael Schumacher had an effortless getaway from P1, followed by Juan Montoya who was in no position to challenge into Turn 1. Behind, Kimi Raikkonen easily got up the inside of Jarno Trulli to take third. However, behind it all got very frenzied. With no places to overtake on the track this was the best place to make a move. Jarno Trulli and fellow Toyota driver went into Turn 1 virtually side by side with Trulli on the outside and Ralf on the inside. Fernando Alonso, starting from 6th, tried an incredibly ambitious tight line that involved mounting the kerb on the apex to get inside of Ralf’s Toyota. The Spaniard couldn’t avoid Ralf and brake at the same time and slithered off the kerb bending his front wing back on Ralf’s rear tyre as the German turned in. It was a racing accident and looked to be far more of Alonso’s making than Schumacher’s. While all this was happening, Jarno Trulli got a massive put from behind from Rubens Barrichello whose Ferrari nose clattered into the back of the Toyota, braking off a shower of carbon fibre. Both Rubens and Alonso would have to head for the pits for replacement front wings as a result of their first corner contact. Ralf Schumacher almost did exactly the same thing to Raikkonen's McLaren and had to brake hard to avoid hitting him. Had he not, he would have been up into 4th. As it was, Trulli was able to sweep round for the place. The most spectacular event happened further back where Christian Klien tried to go round the outside of Jacques Villeneuve’s Sauber. Klien tried to turn in tighter, as understeer on the Sauber made JV's car wash out slightly wide. The result was that Klien managed to put his right rear wheel just where the Sauber's front left wanted to be. Had he run wider round the outside there would have been no problem, but he turned sharply in front of JV and the impact of his tyre pitched him into a roll. Red Bull team boss Christian Horner seemed to have a peculiar interpretation of events that were clearly evident on TV replays. “Villeneuve stuck a wheel inside of him and tipped him over,” said Horner. Further round the lap Horner’s miserable afternoon was made complete when the second Red Bull of David Coulthard made contact with Fernano Alosno’s front wing, which bent underneath and flew off the car. It was expertly avoided by both Saubers who saw it coming off and Mark Webber who had time to see it land on the track, but Coulthard was unsighted, and as the BMW-Williams of Webber jinked neatly out of the way – BANG, DC’s front wheel was gone. The Red Bull careened into the barriers but luckily hit no-one as his car slewed across the track. Somewhere on the first lap Raikkonen did the impossible and got past team-mate Juan Montoya and up into second place. So as the cars crossed the line it was Michael Schumacher leading with a 1.9 second gap to Raikkonen, Montoya in 3rd, Trulli in 4th, Ralf in 5th, Button up to 6th from 8th on the grid, Sato in 7th. Nick Heidfeld in 8th and Giancarlo Fisichella in 9th place. Behind, the two Saubers of Massa and Villeneuve. Michael Schumacher wasn’t going to sprint away from the McLarens, though, and by Lap 3, Raikkonen had got the gap down to a second. From Laps 5 to 8 Raikkonen and Schumacher started to trade fastest laps with Montoya dropping back – the evidence was now clear that the leading duo were on three-stoppers and Montoya was on a two-stopper. Lap 5: Schumacher Fastest Lap 1:21.673 Lap 6: Schumacher Fastest Lap 1:21.629 Raikkonen Fastest Lap 1:21.610 Lap 7: Raikkonen Fastest Lap 1:21.488 Lap 8: Schumacher Fastest Lap 1:21.479 By the ninth lap the gap between Raikkonen and Schumacher was just 0.7 and the Ferrari was clearly holding the McLaren up. Unusually, Jarno Trulli, despite his broken rear diffuser on the Toyota, was holding no-one up. And already there was a 23 second gap from the leader to 6th place Jenson Button. On Lap 12 it was McLaren who were the first to pit with Raikkonen re-emerging in front of Jenson Button and dropping only as far as 5th place. At the other end of the field his World Championship rival Fernando Alonso was struggling even to get past the Minardi of Robert Doornbos for 15th place. He and Rubens Barrichello ran at the back in close company for almost all of the race – gradually making their way through the slower runners but easily lapped in the process. Doornbos opened the door for Alonso at Turn 2 on Lap 12 and the Renault clambered past. Karthikeyan did the same for Barrichello a couple of laps later, even though neither of them were being lapped and they were racing for position. On Lap 14 Trulli pitted for the first of three stops and a lap later Michael Schumacher was in for the first of his three. Brother Ralf also pitted on Lap 15 and managed to steal a place off Trulli in the process. So, after the first round of pit-stops for the three-stoppers it was Montoya leading from Schumi, Raikkonen, Button, Ralf, Trulli, Sato, Heidfeld and Fisichella. Now with the lowest level of fuel on board of the front three, Juan needed to put the hammer down and try and get a big enough gap to squeeze ahead of both Raikkonen and Schumacher when he pitted for the first time. On lap 20 he put in the fastest lap of the race with a 1:21.237 and he’d managed to open up a 19.2 second gap. It wasn’t enough. The Colombian pitted at the end of Lap 21 and emerged just behind the Schumacher/Raikkonen duel which had closed right up again. With a greater fuel load he then started to lose ground again. Montoya was the first of the two-stoppers to pit, and he was then followed in by Button on Lap 23 and the late-stopping BMW-Williams cars of Heidfeld and Webber who came in on Lap 27 and 29 respectively. So at almost half distance, with everyone having been in once, it was Schumacher leading, 0.7 seconds ahead of Raikkonen’s Mclaren, who was a further 8.2 seconds ahead of Juan Montoya in 3rd. Ralf was 4th, followed by Trulli, Button, Nick Heidfeld, who had managed to jump Takuma Sato in the pit-stops, Giancarlo Fisichella in 9th and Rubens Barrichello in 10th. On Lap 36 it was all settled when Michael Schumacher came in for his second pit-stop. With the Ferrari out of his way Raikkonen pumped in a fast lap before pitting himself. He had a short fill from the McLaren team keeping him stationary for just 5.4 seconds. It was enough to get himself out a long way clear of Schumacher, though only just in front of Rubens Barrichello's Ferrari which was by now a lap down. With Raikkonen ahead of Schumacher and the Ferrari slowing, (on Lap 39 Raikkonen put in a 1:21.2 while Schumacher could only manage a 1:23.9) it was now a question of whether Montoya could make the marginal two-stop strategy work to his advantage. It was going to be a McLaren 1-2, but which one would win? Raikkonen looked to be far the speedier and on Lap 40 lowered the Fastest Lap to a 1:21.219 just as Montoya was slowing down. A lap later and the silver and black McLaren was touring – a broken driveshaft putting an end to his afternoon’s work. Yet another McLaren reliability issue. On Lap 42 Michael Schumacher could only manage a 1:24 compared to Raikkonen’s 1:21 and suddenly there looked to be a chance that Ralf Schumacher's Toyota (1:22.3) might make up the ground to his brother before the finish. Further back, Giancarlo Fisichella went off the road spectacularly at Turn 4 plunging through the gravel and onto the grass before regaining the track. It let Mark Webber through into 8th place. Fisi managed it again on Lap 56 and effectively ended any chance of gaining a point for Renault. Both Saubers exited from the race; Felipe Massa had a small pitlane fire when he came in for fuel on Lap 45. His car was put back together and he was sent out again to gain a higher qualifying slot for Turkey – he would finish the race seven laps down. Jacques Villeneuve parked his car at the side of the road on Lap 59 and it promptly caught fire. In the closing stages of the race, once all the second and third pit-stops had been made, there were two key battles that looked like they might be played out – Schumacher vs Schumacher and Button vs Heidfeld. On lap 59, the order was Kimi Raikkonen, 32 seconds clear of Michael Schumacher, who was 4.4 seconds ahead of brother Ralf. The third place Toyota was 11.8 seconds up on Trulli in fourth, who had 15 seconds on Button in fifth, who had just 2.1 seconds on the BMW Williams of Nick Heidfeld in sixth. Mark Webber was seventh and Takuma Sato eighth. Fisichella, Barrichello and Alonso were over a lap behind. In the closing stages, Ralf got onto the gearbox of his brother, but never looked like overtaking him, even though he has done it before at the Hungaroring into Turn 1. Jenson Button eased away from Heidfeld. In fact the Brit was only some four seconds shy of Trulli by the line. It was a great win for McLaren, especially on a day when the World Champion elect could only manage 11th place, however yet again engineering issues robbed them of an easy 1-2. Renault’s biggest worry will be the resurgence of Ferrari, whose Bridgestone tyres did not let them down in the closing stages of the race. Should both Ferrari and Toyota start interposing themselves between themselves and McLaren, then the World Championship, (for drivers) that looked like being handed to them on a plate a week ago, might take a lot more hard work. AD Results 1 K. Räikkönen McLaren 1:37:25.552 10 2 M. Schumacher Ferrari + 35.581 8 3 R. Schumacher Toyota + 36.129 6 4 J. Trulli Toyota + 54.221 5 5 J. Button BAR + 58.832 4 6 N. Heidfeld Williams + 1:08.375 3 7 M. Webber Williams + 1 laps 2 8 T. Sato BAR + 1 laps 1 9 G. Fisichella Renault + 1 laps 0 10 R. Barrichello Ferrari + 1 laps 0 11 F. Alonso Renault + 1 laps 0 12 N. Karthikeyan Jordan + 3 laps 0 13 T. Monteiro Jordan + 4 laps 0 14 F. Massa Sauber + 7 laps 0 15 C. Albers Minardi + 11 laps 0 Did not finish 16 J. Villeneuve Sauber + 14 laps 0 17 JP. Montoya McLaren + 29 laps 0 18 R. Doornbos Minardi + 44 laps 0 19 D. Coulthard Red Bull + 70 laps 0 20 C. Klien Red Bull + 70 laps 0
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Post by TennisHack on Aug 21, 2005 14:04:12 GMT -5
Turkish GP Race Report: Kimi Claims Istanbul WinSunday August 21 2005 www.planet-f1.com/news/story_20688.shtmlKimi Raikkonen closed the gap in the Championship race with a victory in Sunday's Turkish GP, albeit by only two points. The Finn lost the lead at the very start of the race, however, by the end of the opening lap was in control and it never looked as if his win was going to be threatened. Fernando Alonso finished in second place, losing only two points to Raikkonen in the battle for the 2005 World title. The Spaniard was gifted P2 on the penultimate lap when Juan Pablo Montoya ran wide due to a flat spotted tyre allowing Alonso to get through. Montoya came home in third place ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella, Jenson Button and Jarno Trulli. Race Report: The ambient temperature was a relatively low 30C and the track at 46C as the cars lined up on the grid after the parade lap, in bright sunshine. Early morning rain had held temperatures down as F1 fans were still struggling to get into the circuit. Takuma Sato immediately took the opportunity to dive down pitlane and fuel his car for a one-stop race. When the lights went out it was clear that polesitter Raikkonen was going to struggle to keep the Renaults at bay – both were lighter fuelled and would have swamped the McLaren had they had a greater distance before Turn 1. As it was Fisichella from P2 passed Raikkonen on the inside and into the lead while Alonso crowded round the back of the Finn. Further back Felipe Massa got squeezed into an impossibly tight line up the inside and was unable to make the corner properly. The Sauber skeetered into a camera placed at what the organisers must have thought was a safe point on the inside. His car ran across the apex of the corner, washed out to the outside of the turn, thankfully taking no-one with him as he crossed the track, except he shepherded Ralf Schumacher’s car behind him. Massa lost his nose cone in the incident and had to head back to the pits. Ralf never recovered from this early setback and despite no apparent damage to his car spent the rest of the afternoon circulating with Jacques Villeneuve near the back. On the opening lap Alonso was keen to get past Raikkonen, who in turn was keen to get past Fisichella. Fisi put a wheel on the grass which slowed him and going down into Turn 12 Raikkonen jinked inside him just as Alonso tried to go even further up the inside. Heading into the turn Raikkonen looked to be the McLaren meat in a Renault sandwich, however the Finn took the lead and Alonso failed to get past his team-mate. David Coulthard also had a look at Red Bull team-mate Christian Klien on the opening lap, but mindful of what had happened in Hungary (where both cars were out on Lap 1) thought better of it. So, as the cars crossed the line at the end of the opening lap it was Raikkonen from Fisichella, Alonso, Montoya, Trulli in 5th and Nick Heidfeld 6th. Christian Klien and David Coulthard had both taken advantage of a poor Mark Webber start and were up into 7th and 8th with Webbo 9th, Barrichello 10th, Michael Schumacher a fantastic 11th from 19th on the grid, and Jenson Button 12th. On Lap 2, there was some Renault connivance to give Fernando Alonso second place. Clearly at this stage of the race no team knows how fast each driver is going because they’re not into a pattern having done just one lap, but all of a sudden both drivers got the Renault team radio call “Fernando, you are faster than Fisi, overtake him.” At which point Fisi suddenly got off the gas and Alonso cruised past him. Making the pass as though he were a backmarker. It was blatent team intervention and team orders but the stewards did nothing. Strange how some rules are carried out to the letter and some seem to be forgotten. Straight away it was clear that the Istanbul Otodorome was not a place where slow cars could hold up fast charging ones. On Lap 3 Mark Webber split the Red Bulls, while Jenson Button overtook Schumi. A lap later and Jenson was past Rubens Barrichello, while Webbo had to wait till Lap 7 before he scrambled past the second Red Bull of Christian Klien (going round him on the outside of Turn 12 unseen by the TV cameras). However on Lap 5 the BMW-Williams of Nick Heidfeld had already displayed a fault that was to ruin the afternoon of both BMW-Williams drivers. The German limped back to the pits with a right rear puncture, the tyre carcase not deflating in place, but looking to roll off the rim on the inside, leaving the metal wheel rim as the outermost part of the wheel. This would happen a further three times, twice to each driver. Michelin had already issued a cautionary note not to cut the high kerb at Turn 13 and there was speculation that this is what Nick had done, but as the afternoon wore on it was clear that this was a Williams-only set-up problem. His pit-stop put him well down the order and that was that for the day, though Webber was still making good progress. At the front of the race the Fastest Lap times began to tumble as both Alonso and Raikkonen tried to establish an advantage. Lap 4 Raikkonen 1:27.289 Lap 5 Alonso 1:27.105 Lap 6 Raikkonen 1:26.960 Lap 8 Raikkonen 1:26.626 Lap 8 Fisichella 1:26.579 Lap 9 Raikkonen 1:26.330 Lap 11 Raikkonen 1:26.102 Lap 8 saw the end of Mark Webber’s charge as he limped back to the pits (from very early on in his lap) to get his right rear tyre changed. It had come off the rim in the same way that Heidfeld’s had. Big fans of F1 irony might note that in swapping from one side of the track to the other he was almost collected by the BAR-Honda of Takuma Sato. By Lap 9 Jenson Button had managed to pass David Coulthard on the pit straight for 7th place and on Lap 10 he was ahead of Christian Klien for 6th place. The Renaults had been comfortably matching the McLaren pace and on Lap 13 it was clear why, Fernando Alonso pitted first, a whole nine laps before Raikkonen and eight before Montoya. His team-mate Fisichella came in a lap later and, as has been usual this season, it was Fisichella who had all the dramas. The refuelling nozzle failed to come off Fisi’s car and while his team-mate had rejoined in 5th, he rejoined in 9th place. While all this was happening there was more action out on the circuit. Michael Schumacher and Mark Webber were mixing it at the back of the field. Schumi looked like he had got the pass on Webber going into Turn 10 and was already in front going into the braking zone, but he didn’t block off the inside and took the conventional wide racing line. Seeing as Michael had left the door open Mark decided to see if he could outbrake him up the inside and headed for the most direct route to the apex. Schumi. not expecting the move, simply turned in in his usual way and found that half of the Williams was alongside of him when he did. The result was a lost nose for the Williams and a spun-round Ferrari. Both cars limped back to the pits Schumi stopped for an interminable 40 seconds as the team swapped his tyres round. Two laps later he was back in for the team to work on his broken power steering. Being the first retiree from the race would mean that he would be the first car out in Qualifying for Monza in two weeks’ time and so the Ferrari team worked away while hoping that other cars would run into problems. Raikkonen, as he continued on towards his first pit-stop was getting faster and faster and Juan Montoya was showing signs of challenging. Lap 17 Raikkonen 1:25.520 Lap 18 Raikkonen 1:25.443 Lap 19 Montoya !:25.420 With Alonso having stopped a great deal earlier than the rest of the front-runners, he was caught by the much lighter Jenson Button. As they came to lap Monteiro by Turn 10 Alonso lost a small amount of momentum and the BAR-Honda inched closer on the straight, the flat-out kink and then launched itself up the inside going into Turn 12 to take the place. In the great scheme of things it didn’t matter over much as a lap later (Lap 21) Button was in for his first pit-stop to rejoin the race behind both Jarno Trulli and Giancarlo Fisichella. Montoya pitted at the same time and came out in front of Alonso, despite knocking over his refueller on the way. Raikkonen came in a lap after Juan-Pablo and easily kept the lead. The Red Bull of Coulthard and the Ferrari of Rubens Barrichello ran the longest, both pitting on Lap 25. When they emerged again we had a fairly accurate race order. Raikkonen led Montoya by 12.4 seconds. Juan-Pablo was 1.5 seconds ahead of Alonso who was a massive 21 seconds in front of Fisichella in 4th place. Fisi had three seconds on Jarno Trulli in 5th who was being closed down by Jenson Button four seconds back in 6th place. Then came Sato (yet to stop) Coulthard who had jumped Klien in the pit-stops, Klien and Barrichello. Mark Webber had picked up his second right rear puncture on Lap 22 and the deep suspicions over the Williams set-up were growing. Webber retired his car. This was then added to by Nick Heifeld who lost another right rear in Turn 8 on Lap 30 and the team decided enough was enough. By lap 33 the Ferrari team had done enough work on Michael Schumacher’s car to get it circuit-worthy again and he duly went out to pound out some laps to get ahead of the two Williams cars and Felipe Massa who had retired his Sauber on Lap 29. Once he had put in the requisite number of laps he duly drove back into the Ferrari garage, his afternoon’s work done. The two Renaults were back in for their second pit-stops on laps 34 and 37 respectively – Fisi having no dramas the second time round. At this point the strength of Jenson Button’s BAR-Honda was obvious and he put in personal best times to close the gap to Jarno Trulli. At the same time Juan Montoya was making a lot of progress on Kimi Raikkonen’s lead. Juan was getting a better feel for the track as it rubbered in. He closed the gap from 9.5 seconds to 8.7 seconds to 7.8 seconds and successively lowered the lap record. Lap 38 Montoya 1:24.997 Lap 39 Montoya 1:24.770 Juan pitted on Lap 41, though, three before Raikkonen and when the Finn emerged, the lead was back up to 20 seconds and there was no contest. Jenson Button didn’t have to trouble himself with overtaking Jarno Trulli on track, he cruised up to the back of the Toyota and then, after Trulli pitted on Lap 43, the Brit put in a series of personal best lap times to take him well clear in 5th place. Button was the last of the leaders to pit on Lap 48. When he came back out the positions were: Raikkonen, 20 seconds ahead of Montoya, who was 10.9 ahead of Alonso. Fisichella was 22 seconds adrift in 4th place and being caught up by Jenson Button just four seconds behind. Trulli was an easy 6th, Coulthard was 7th, Klien was 8th and Sato 9th. In the closing laps the only contest that looked like playing out was Button and Fisichella, but even though Jenson had whittled the gap down to just 1.1 seconds at the line, a series of personal best lap times by the Italian kept him in front. Then it all changed on Lap 56 (of 58) when Juan Montoya lapped Tiago Monteiro. Running down to Turn 10 he pulled in in front of him and got punted from the rear by the Jordan driver who simply missed his braking point. Juan’s car spun out and though he managed to keep it going and get back on track, Alonso was now just 1.5 seconds behind him. On Lap 57, under pressure from Alonso, he ran wide in Turn 8 and off the circuit allowing the World Championship leader to cruise past. It later transpired that Montoya had flat-spotted his tyre earlier, though he hadn’t run off at Turn 8 before. Suddenly from an easy 1-2 McLaren had slipped to a 1-3 and worse, the difference between Raikkonen and Alonso would be two points not four. Raikkonen crossed the line for a dominant victory only to be told about Alonso on his slowing down lap. Montoya took third, Fisichella 4th, Button 5th and Trulli 6th. It had been a dramatic race and a tremendous debut for a race track that delivered a real challenge in a season where overtaking has proved far too elusive a commodity. However both McLarens finished the race and the World Championship fight goes on to Monza. Though for the first time, Michael Schumacher can safely say he will be passing the trophy on to someone else. FH Times 01 K. Räikkönen McLaren 1:24:34.454 02 F. Alonso Renault + 18.609 03 JP. Montoya McLaren + 19.635 04 G. Fisichella Renault + 37.973 05 J. Button BAR + 39.304 06 J. Trulli Toyota + 55.420 07 D. Coulthard Red Bull + 1:09.296 08 C. Klien Red Bull + 1:11.622 09 T. Sato BAR + 1:49.987 10 R. Barrichello Ferrari + 1 laps 11 J. Villeneuve Sauber + 1 laps 12 R. Schumacher Toyota + 1 laps 13 R. Doornbos Minardi + 3 laps 14 N. Karthikeyan Jordan + 3 laps 15 T. Monteiro Jordan + 3 laps Did not finish 16 C. Albers Minardi + 10 laps 17 M. Schumacher Ferrari + 26 laps 18 N. Heidfeld Williams + 29 laps 19 F. Massa Sauber + 30 laps 20 M. Webber Williams + 38 laps
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