Spanish GP Formula 1 Round 5: Raikkonen/McLaren dominant, Schumacher/Ferrari retire, Alonso /Renault closer to title
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Image Gallery ( 25 images )Kimi Räikkönen, McLaren Mercedes F1, pole sitter, flag-to-flag winner: "We have been close to victory a few times and today it finally happened. The car has been working perfectly throughout the weekend and we knew we had a good chance to win. A lot of effort has gone into this from the team and all our Partners and I would like to thank everybody. If we can continue to show performance like the one today we still have a good chance of fighting for the World Championships. We have a competitive package and until Imola we were extremely reliable so anything can happen. I made a clean start from pole and was pushing really hard until the first pitstop when I saw how big the gap actually was. There was a small scare as I pulled away from my first stop because the engine did not pick up but it soon rectified itself and then I just took it easy during my second stop. All in all a great weekend!"
Ron Dennis, McLaren Team Principal: "A tremendous race for the team and a truly dominant performance by Kimi. His only problem was to find the discipline to actually slow down, once he had established a significant lead. Juan Pablo's race could have been so much better but an electrical problem that activated the safety system on the fuel rig almost certainly cost him a podium finish. Throughout the race, the performance of the Michelin tyres on both cars was great and certainly contributed a significant amount to the outcome."
Norbert Haug, Vice President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: "I would like to thank the entire team for a perfect job. Everybody has worked extremely hard to make this victory happen. I am really pleased for Kimi. He performed impressively by leading the race throughout from start to finish. Juan Pablo had the chance for a better result. However due to a problem with the fuel rig at his first pitstop he had to come in one more time. But again; great result, a baseline on which we can build."
Fernando Alonso, Mild Seven Renault F1, 2nd: “For me today, this is the same feeling as winning – we had a fantastic car, almost no problems all weekend and I think we did the maximum we could by finishing second. We thought McLaren would be a little bit quicker than us, although it maybe looked too easy for Kimi in the first stint because I was having some small problems, and I am totally confident the gap will not be the same at the next race. The crowd was hoping for a win for sure, but on the in-lap I could see they were still happy, and very excited at my finish and what the team achieved today. I have five podiums from five races, and 44 points already – that is a fantastic score, and I know the whole team is pushing to the maximum to maintain our position.”
Flavio Briatore, Managing Director, Mild Seven Renault F1: “You can’t win all the races in a season and on days like this, you need to be able to think about the championship as well. Today, we have scored a fantastic result for the team: we got both cars home in the points, one on the podium – and would have had two there apart from Fisi’s problem. Giancarlo drove a great race, and we have to say sorry to him for the problem with his car that cost him a podium. Fernando didn’t make any mistakes, and deserved his second place in front of the Spanish crowd. We also congratulate McLaren on an impressive performance this afternoon.”
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering, Mild Seven Renault F1: “First of all, I would like to congratulate McLaren – they simply out-paced us today. Fernando’s race was reasonably controlled, although a little rear tyre blistering caused him problems in the early stages and once it had cleaned up, it was too late for him to be able to mount a challenge on Kimi. Giancarlo drove an excellent race: he looked set to take second position until a problem with the bodywork around the floor of the car slowed him dramatically during his second stint. The team reacted very quickly, and Fisico made a very early second stop to fix the problem. His challenge from then on was to maintain his pace and climb the order as others pitted, a task he accomplished faultlessly. It was a small consolation to see him record the fastest lap on the final lap of the race.”
Jarno Trulli, Panasonic Toyota Racing, 3rd: "This was one of the best races of my career because I really had to fight for the whole of the race to keep ahead of Ralf. Ralf was very quick and probably today he deserved a podium as well as me. But I had a different strategy because my set-up meant that I was quicker with more fuel and a bit slower with less fuel in the car. It meant I had to push really hard throughout, even through the pitstops. I had a problem with the fuel rig at my first stop but in the end everything worked fine so it was a great feeling to finish on the podium again. Toyota has been doing a great job and I can't thank the team enough for the equipment they are giving me." Ralf Schumacher, Panasonic Toyota Racing, 4th: "That was a long, hard race. It's great to score so many points again and in general the race went well. I gained a place at the start and kept pushing throughout the afternoon. Unfortunately I lost ground on Jarno in the first pitstops and from then on I had to push him all the way. It was a busy race but I had no real problems with the car or tyres, so I'm happy with the way it went. It's great for the team that we have brought home 11 points between us today." Tsutomu Tomita, Panasonic Toyota Racing, Team Principal: "We're very happy to have made the podium successfully yet again, so I would like to congratulate both drivers for their excellent performances today. Either of them could have come away with the podium, but both earned a lot of points for Toyota. So it was a good race and a good day for the team all round. The reliability of the engine, chassis and transmission was perfect for both cars. So congratulations are due to the aerodynamics department and the manufacturing department, particularly composites, at TMG. It was an almost trouble-free race. We had a bit of a moment at Jarno's first pitstop when some fuel caught fire, but there was no damage to the car. We had been concerned about tyre wear before the race but it was effectively no issue at all. A good day, then, but we still finished behind two of our competitors so we still have a long way to go. Now we have to keep pushing."
Giancarlo Fisichella, Mild Seven Renault F1, 5th: “I have a mixture of emotions after the race: I am pleased to have finished in the points, and I think I showed the pace we had in the car today. But it is also a shame that we had the problem, because our strategy was good, the set-up was spot on and I drove a good race. I think P2 was mine. The problem happened during the middle of the race, when I suddenly felt a loss of front downforce, so I pitted and the team changed the nose as a precaution, and also fixed the problem down by the floor of the car. We refuelled at the same time, so it was then a case of picking off the cars in front when they stopped. I was pleased to be able to pass Webber though – I could see I was quicker, and then got a run on him out of the last corner and did a good manoeuvre into turn 1. Overall, I am pretty happy with fifth position: I have scored points again, and am now in a good position for first qualifying at the next race in Monaco. That will be very important there, and it is my favourite circuit, so I am very optimistic that I can have a strong result.”
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