Juan Pablo Montoya won Sunday’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone to claim his first victory for Team McLaren Mercedes since joining earlier this year and his fifth in Formula One. Team mate Kimi Raikkonen finished the 60-lap race in third position and set the fastest time of the race on the final lap, having fought his way up from 12th overcoming a ten place penalty on the grid, to ensure that two Team McLaren Mercedes drivers stood on the podium. Juan Pablo and Kimi were split by Championship leader Fernando Alonso.
The race victory was made extra special for the team and the drivers as many of the people working at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking and Mercedes Benz in Brixworth were able to attend the race and voice their support.
Ten minutes before the start, all the drivers and the Team Principals gathered at the front of the grid for a minute’s silence as a mark of respect for the victims of Thursday’s London bombings.
As the lights went out in front of a capacity 100,000 crowd at Silverstone Juan Pablo moved from third to first in the opening two corners after an exciting battle with Alonso. However the Mercedes Benz Safety Car came out as Sato was blocking the track but by this point Kimi had already moved from 12 to eighth. The race was on again at the end of lap 2 as the Safety Car came in.
On lap five, Juan Pablo led Alonso by a second and Kimi was really pushing Michael Schumacher hard for seventh place but was unable to pass until the first round of pitstops where the Finn passed both Michael and Jarno Trulli.
Both Juan Pablo and Kimi were on two-stop strategies. Juan Pablo came in for fuel on laps 22 (8.8 seconds) and 44 (6.6 seconds), whilst Kimi pitted on laps 26 (8 seconds) and 45 (6 seconds).
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA“It’s a great feeling winning my first Grand Prix for Team McLaren Mercedes. My start was perfect, and I managed to get by Fernando in a wheel-to-wheel dice after the second corner. I was really going for it and knew that he had more to lose than me – I just wanted to win the race. It was then all about staying ahead and our strategy combined with two excellent pit stops really helped me to manage that. The team did a great job particularly calling me in one lap early for my first pitstop to avoid traffic, which was the right decision and meant I gained an advantage to Fernando. However, it was not an easy race as Fernando put me under a lot of pressure until the very end. I’m relieved to have won my first race of the year especially as it was the home Grand Prix of McLaren and a lot of the people from the Technology Centre and Mercedes-Benz at Brixworth were here cheering.”
KIMI RAIKKONEN“I think I did the best I could today, and we can leave Silverstone with two podium finishes. If I had not had the problems yesterday and lost 10 grid positions, the result would have been different, but that is motor racing. However we lost only two points in the Championship battle and hopefully we can challenge for victory at the remaining races. During the race I lost a lot of time behind other cars. It’s so difficult to get close in the fast corners as you just lose all grip. When I got past Michael and Trulli in the pitstops it was too late and the gap to the front was too big. There is no doubt that we have the speed as I was able to set the fastest time of the race on the last lap, so I look forward to Hockenheim where hopefully we should have an ‘uneventful’ weekend.”
RON DENNIS“I think today’s results speak for themselves. An outstanding performance from Juan Pablo who worked hard to generate sufficient gap to Alonso prior to his final stop to ensure his race victory, which of course he achieved. Kimi’s third place reflects his poor starting position resulting from a penalty he suffered following an engine change on Saturday. Nevertheless he set fastest lap and with 80 points available mathematically both drivers still have the opportunity to challenge for the Championship.”
NORBERT HAUG “A fantastic race and a great day for all the team members which saw Juan Pablo’s first victory for the team. His start was exceptional, and he did not put one foot wrong during the race. Our race strategy was good. Kimi’s speed throughout the race was impressive, and he finally achieved the fastest lap of the race on his very last lap. Kimi lost two points to Alonso in the championship. Without the engine change yesterday he could certainly have achieved a better result, so again, sorry for that, we will try even harder. We are now looking forward to our home Grand Prix at Hockenheim.”
Following today’s race Kimi remains second in the Drivers’ World Championship with 51 points whilst Juan Pablo is sixth with 26 points. Team McLaren Mercedes is second in the Constructors’ rankings with 87 points.
1 Juan Pablo Montoya McLaren-Mercedes 60 Winner2 Fernando Alonso Renault 60 +2.7 secs3 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 60 +14.4 secs4 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault 60 +17.9 secs5 Jenson Button BAR-Honda 60 +40.2 secs6 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 60 +75.3 secs7 Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 60 +76.5 secs8 Ralf Schumacher Toyota 60 +79.2 secs9 Jarno Trulli Toyota 60 +80.8 secs10 Felipe Massa Sauber-Petronas 59 +1 Lap11 Mark Webber Williams-BMW 59 +1 Lap12 Nick Heidfeld Williams-BMW 59 +1 Lap13 David Coulthard Red Bull Racing 59 +1 Lap14 Jacques Villeneuve Sauber-Petronas 59 +1 Lap15 Christian Klien Red Bull Racing 59 +1 Lap16 Takuma Sato BAR-Honda 58 +2 Laps17 Tiago Monteiro Jordan-Toyota 58 +2 Laps18 Christijan Albers Minardi-Cosworth 57 +3 Laps19 Patrick Friesacher Minardi-Cosworth 56 +4 LapsRet Narain Karthikeyan Jordan-Toyota 10 +50 Laps
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