McLaren aims for victory as birthday present

Team McLaren Mercedes drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya will start tomorrow's Monaco Grand Prix from fourth and sixth positions respectively after setting fastest lap times in the third and final qualifying session of 1:14.140 and 1:14.664. In both the first and second session Kimi was fastest overall and in the second he set the fastest time of the weekend so far with a 1:13.352.

The team was shocked to learn of Edouard Michelin's untimely death. Everybody from McLaren and Mercedes-Benz as well as the drivers would like to send their condolences to his family, friends and all his colleagues at Michelin.

Kimi Raikkonen "I'm very happy with the car and was really able to push throughout qualifying. I believe that I could have claimed pole position, but then I hit traffic on my second and last flying lap – but that is Monaco. We are still on the second row and with a good start and a strong strategy we are definitely in with a chance for a good result."

Juan Pablo Montoya "I struggled a bit with traffic as well as understeer, so could probably have qualified a bit higher up the grid. However we have a good car here and a strong strategy for the race, so we will see what happens. Third row is not the end of the world, and I'm confident that it should be a good Grand Prix which I'm looking forward to."

Ron Dennis "Our grid positions and race strategy give us every chance to leave Monte Carlo with good results. Both Kimi and Juan Pablo put in solid laps but struggled with the Monaco traffic .We all look forward to the race tomorrow."

Norbert Haug "Following two best times in the first two parts and the fastest time of the weekend in the second session qualifying on pole position was possible for Kimi. He was hampered by traffic on his last flying lap, and that prevented him from achieving more. Nevertheless positions on rows two and three are a good basis for tomorrow's race."