Podium for Kimi as JP retires
Team McLaren Mercedes driver Kimi Raikkonen finished today's 70-laps Canadian Grand Prix in third position. Kimi was on a two-stop strategy and pitted on laps 25 (12.6 seconds) and 53 (14.6 seconds) – both stops taking longer than planned due to a dragging clutch. Until the penultimate lap Kimi was second but whilst pushing hard to catch eventual race winner Fernando Alonso he made a mistake at the hairpin.
Kimi set the fastest time of the race on lap 21 with 1:15.841. Team mate Juan Pablo Montoya failed to finish the race when he was forced to retire at the end of lap 12 after his car touched one of the walls as he was fighting to make up the positions he lost following an incident with Nico Rosberg on lap two. The incident with Rosberg caused the Mercedes-Benz Safety Car to be deployed and Juan Pablo went into the pits to change the nose of his car (26.4 seconds). Following today's result Kimi remains third in the Drivers' World Championship with 39 points and Juan Pablo is sixth with 26 points. Team McLaren Mercedes stays third in the Constructors' ranking with 65 points.
Kimi Raikkonen "That was not an easy race. I was really pushing Fernando for the lead in the opening part and was able to have a go at the hairpin when he went wide, but it was not to be. We had some problems with the clutch in both pitstops which hampered our chance of victory. Traffic didn't make things easier and at the end I was in second. However then the Safety Car came back out and I was pushing to see if there was a chance of catching Fernando, but went wide at the hairpin which allowed Michael past. That was a shame but we always want to do everything we can to win. We can leave Montreal knowing that we are competitive and I look forward to Indianapolis."
Juan Pablo Montoya "That was a bit of a mess. I was battling with Nico Rosberg in the opening laps and was next to him, but then we touched. I thought I had damaged the nose and as the Safety Car came out I went into the pits. The team did a precautionary tyre change and changed my race strategy to give me the best chance of a strong finishing position. I had a good battle with DC and then with Ralf and was making progress. The car was great, but I was sliding quite a bit as I had lost a deflector and consequently was a bit light on downforce. I was trying to make up positions, but then I touched the wall and damaged the rear and that was the end of the race for me. It was a shame as I think we would have been competitive, but the incident with Rosberg really ruined things for me. There is no point in saying who is to blame. I now look forward to Indianapolis where hopefully our competitiveness will continue to improve."
Ron Dennis "The earlier stops of the Renaults show that our qualifying and race competitiveness have clearly improved. We lost second place after Kimi made a small mistake when pushing to catch Fernando. However we are about winning and these things happen when you are pushing. There were some problems with the clutch in both of Kimi's stops which cost us time, but I think we have demonstrated that we are competitive and can challenge for victories. Juan Pablo didn't get the opportunity to show his potential due to the incident with Rosberg. The entire team is now looking forward to the race next weekend in USA where we want to continue working hard to win."
Norbert Haug "The race result doesn't reflect our speed which looked competitive today. Unfortunately Kimi lost time during his pit stops due to a clutch problem which we will certainly have under control at the next race. However on the track he performed well and posted the fastest lap of the race. Kimi was pushing to have a go on Fernando after the Safety Car, but ran wide and lost second place on the penultimate lap. Juan Pablo had a good start but lost his chances for a result already on the second lap after the incident with Nico Rosberg. The upside of this weekend was our speed, the downside was that we could not make more out of it – next weekend we have another possibility."
