Kimi Raikkonen took a decisive pole position for yesterday's race, however he unfortunately retired from a strong first place on lap eight as a result of a failure in the driveshaft.
Alex Wurz was deputising for Juan Pablo Montoya, whose shoulder injury had not sufficiently healed to enable him to race this weekend, finished 4th
The race was won by the Renault of Fernando Alonso, and an extremely close second went to Michael Schumacher, after an exciting battle between the two drivers in the later stages of the race.
KIMI RAIKKONEN"Unfortunately my race was cut short as a result of a failure in the left driveshaft. Obviously I am disappointed as I had a great start and was really building on my lead. At least we know that the car has the pace in both qualifying as well as the race, and with some improvements due for Spain in two weeks I am looking forward to a good race there."
ALEX WURZ"I am really happy with my result today. I drove a tactical race, particularly right before the first pitstop, when I needed to close the gap between Mark Webber and Takuma Sato. I managed to gain an advantage once they pitted and as a result came out ahead of them. I could have been faster; however early on in the race I was stuck in traffic, so could not close the gap to Jenson Button. I am pleased that the team gave me this opportunity and I did my best to justify their commitment to me. A shame for Kimi, he would have deserved a top result this weekend."
RON DENNIS"Of course we are very disappointed with the outcome of the race. Kimi was doing a fantastic job and had already pulled out a healthy lead over Fernando Alonso until a CV joint failed in the driveshaft. Alex's fourth place was well deserved and again reflected the professional approach he has taken to the weekend as a whole. Apologies again to Kimi"
NORBERT HAUG"It's a pity that Kimi retired in the lead with a driveshaft failure, sorry Kimi. He did everything right starting from pole position and pulling away from the field after a perfect start. We had the right strategy, which would have given Kimi even more of an advantage. This is our first failure to lead to retirement this year, and the team will sort that out. Alex did a good job and was among the fastest of the Michelin runners. We will stay focused and work hard to further improve."
Kimi is ninth in the 2005 Drivers' World Championship with seven points, whilst Alex is 13th with five. Juan Pablo Montoya and Pedro de la Rosa are eighth and 14th respectively. Team McLaren Mercedes is third in the Constructors' Championship with 24 points.
The team continue their testing programme in Jerez, Spain, next week with Kimi and Pedro behind the wheel of two MP4 20s.
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