Team McLaren Mercedes driver Kimi Raikkonen finished the last race of the 2004 season at Interlagos in second place – only one second from race winner and 2005 team mate Juan Pablo Montoya. David Coulthard finished his 150th Grand Prix and last race for Team McLaren Mercedes in 11th place. Kimi took his pitstops on laps five (6.17 seconds), 29 (8.42 seconds) and 55 (7.07 seconds) whilst David came in on laps 14 (8.47 seconds) and 41 (9.97 seconds). Kimi ends up seventh in the 2004 Drivers’ World Championship with 45 points and David finishes 10th with 24 points. The Team McLaren Mercedes team is fifth in the Constructors’ standings with 69 points.
KIMI RAIKKONEN “I was close to winning but just not close enough. It was a good race and I enjoyed it, but I would have liked to finish on the top step. I started the race on Michelin intermediates and was able to take the lead after a few corners. However, after my first stop I just didn’t have the speed to keep up with Juan Pablo. We were side-by-side down the pitlane, and I did what I could to keep him behind me – perhaps in hindsight I could have been a bit more aggressive coming into the corner. 2004 has been a tough season for the entire team, but everybody has worked so hard to turn things around, and to finish 2004 on the podium is a good reward for all. I now look forward to next season where hopefully Juan Pablo and myself will be able to challenge for wins and the Championship from the beginning.”
DAVID COULTHARD “A disappointing outcome of the weekend and a difficult race. I lost a lot of places in the first couple of corners with cars pushing, touching and wheels banging. It took me a few laps to feel comfortable with the dry Michelin tyres as it was quite slippery out there. Once everything had settled down I was too far back to really make an impact. I want to thank the boys both at the track and back at base for all the efforts and hard work during the past nine years. It’s an emotional moment to say goodbye to the team after all this time, and the memories I will be taking with me will be of my 12 victories, 51 podiums and 412 points that we have achieved while working together.
RON DENNIS “An exciting race to end the 2004 season. Due to the changing weather conditions we were not able to gain full advantage of our strategy. It’s been a tough season but it shows the depth and strength of the entire team that we were able turn things around and challenge for victories. We now look forward to 2005 where we want to start the season in a strong position with Kimi and Juan Pablo. David has done a tremendous job for the team in the past nine years and all his hard work and efforts are appreciated by everybody, and we wish him all the best.”
NORBERT HAUG “Kimi drove a great race particularly considering his fuel load in the early stages. He was faster in the end, but there was no possibility to overtake. An exciting race with top performances by Juan Pablo and Kimi in tricky conditions. Unfortunately we couldn’t deploy our strategy due to the weather conditions at the start of the race. It’s good to see that we have been able to fight back after a difficult start to the season and reach the performance level required to challenge for race wins. I want to thank David for his 150 Grands Prix with us in which he achieved 51 podium finishes.”
Pos - Driver - Team - Race Time
1 Juan Pablo Montoya Williams BMW 1h28m01.451 2 Kimi Raikkonen Team McLaren Mercedes 1h28m02.473 3 Rubens Barrichello Scuderia Ferrari 1h28m25.550 4 Fernando Alonso Renault 1h28m50.359 5 Ralf Schumacher Williams BMW 1h28m51.191 6 Takuma Sato BAR Honda 1h28m51.699 7 Michael Schumacher Scuderia Ferrari 1h28m52.077 8 Felipe Massa Sauber 1h29m03.761 9 Giancarlo Fisichella Sauber 1h29m05.293 10 Jacques Villeneuve Renault 1h28m04.721 11 David Coulthard Team McLaren Mercedes 1h28m18.905 12 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1h28m32.201 13 Ricardo Zonta Toyota 1h28m56.280 14 Christian Klien Jaguar Cosworth 1h28m12.131 15 Timo Glock Jordan Ford 1h29m03.524 16 Zsolt Baumgartner Minardi Cosworth 1h28m02.126 17 Gianmaria Bruni Minardi Cosworth 1h28m18.523
