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F1 Bahrain: Kimi Räikkönen Third from last Place on the Grid
Bahrain, Mar 12, 2006

http://wwwsg.daimlerchrysler.com/GMS..._Juan__mid.jpg

The start: Juan Pablo started the race from fifth place and improved one position on the run to the first corner and was in fourth position after the first lap. Kimi, who had not completed a timed lap during qualifying due to a rear suspension breakage, had to start the race from 22nd and last position. He made up nine positions during the opening lap and came round for the first time in 13th place.
The race: Kimi was on a one stop strategy and carried a heavy fuel load. By the eighth lap he had improved to tenth position after which he became boxed in behind Jacques Villeneuve's BMW Sauber. On the first corner of lap 16 Kimi outbraked the Canadian to take eighth place and one lap later he was up to seventh. After the pit stops of Michael Schumacher's Ferrari (lap 15), Jenson Button's Honda (lap 18) and Alonso (lap 19) Juan Pablo took the lead on lap 20 with Kimi now having climbed to fifth place. Juan Pablo came in for his first stop on lap 23 (8.8sec) and rejoined the race in fourth position behind his team-mate. Kimi made his sole stop on lap 30 and fell back to sixth place after being stationary for 11.0sec. Juan Pablo came in for his second stop on lap 44 (6.9sec) and regained the circuit in fifth position.

During the final phase of the race Kimi matched the pace and lap times of Alonso and Michael Schumacher to take the chequered flag 19.3sec behind the Renault in third position with Juan Pablo taking fifth.

Comments

Kimi Räikkönen: “This is a great result after the disappointment of yesterday, but we have known that the car was very strong all weekend. We thought that we had a chance to score some points today, even though we were starting from the back of the grid, but to get a podium is fantastic, The first few laps were crucial to this result, and luckily I managed to overtake a lot of cars at the first corner; I was up to 13th by lap two even though the cars in front were all lighter than me. We then gained some more places later on as a result of our strategy. The outcome is even more important to the whole team, who have been working so hard throughout the winter, as we didn't know where we were after testing and everyone had been saying that we were struggling. However we really have improved over the past few weeks. It proves that we are competitive and if not for yesterday we could have been even better.”

Juan Pablo Montoya: “I have not really been totally comfortable with the set up of my car all weekend, which was clear during all the practice sessions. Obviously I am a little disappointed finishing in fifth as I know that the car could do so much more, but it just wasn't working for me this weekend. However it was a steady race and for the team to get two cars finishing in the points could be very important later in the season. The four points I have scored are good considering the circumstances. I am now looking forward to the next race in Malaysia, where we can improve further on these results."

Ron Dennis, Team Prinicpal: “A difficult weekend which stretched the whole team. The results are therefore just reward for their efforts. We are all looking forward to Malaysia where our justifiable expectation is to do better.”

Norbert Haug, Vice President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport:

“Kimi's performance was excellent coming from last place on the grid to finish third on the podium. Kimi was fighting all the way through the race and our one-stop strategy was ideal and helped to make this result possible. With his third place and Juan Pablo's fifth we have gained 10 points and are together with Williams Cosworth the only team which has finished with two cars in the points. So we are heading in the right direction. I want to thank the team for all their efforts following yesterday's problem. We are looking forward to next week's Malaysian Grand Prix.”