Welcome back ladies and gentlemen, I hope you all had a relaxing weekend.

As the majority of my F1 fanatics already know, yesterday kicked of the F1 season opener in Bahrain. If you didn't catch it but have a date planned with your TIVO tonight, then read no further.  Otherwise, if you want a recap of how our boy Kimi Raikkonen and the rest of the McLaren Mercedes team fared, then read on my dear chaps.

For the McLaren Mercedes team, the weekend started poorly.  In qualifying Juan Pablo Montoya performed well, earning the fifth starting position; teammate Kimi Raikkonen, however, suffered a far worse fate, becoming victim to a rear suspension failure before completing his first qualifying lap.  As a result of the breakdown, Kimi was forced to start the race in third from last position at the 22nd spot.

Of course, where Kimi starts is irrelevant. He is undoubtedly the team's top driver, and in my opinion, he is the top driver in the world.

From the onset of the race, Kimi proved this sentiment. By the end of the first lap, Kimi had already jumped nine positions and was sitting in 13th place.  Montoya had moved up one spot, earning the fourth position by the end of Lap 1.

As the race continued, Kimi continued working his way through the pack, and by the eighth lap, he had improved to tenth position behind Jacques Villeneuve's BMW Sauber. On the first corner of Lap 16, Kimi out-braked Villeneuve, moving into eighth place, and one lap later, he had moved up again into seventh.

While Raikkonen was working his way through pack, Montoya was battling for the lead.  After Michael Schumacher of Ferrari, Jenson Button of Honda and Fernando Alonso of Renault pitted on Laps 15, 18, and 19, respectively, Montoya moved into first place on Lap 20.  Kimi also continued to move up while the others pitted, now racing in the fifth position.

On Lap 23, Montoya pitted, and rejoined the race in fourth position behind Kimi, who had again moved up in the rankings. Kimi, who opted for a one-top strategy in the race, finally pitted on Lap 30 and rejoined the race in sixth place.

As the race continued Montoya pitted for the second time on Lap 44, and regained the race in fifth position. Meanwhile, Kimi continued his tremendous run, matching the pace and lap times of Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher, finishing the race in third position, 19.3 seconds behind the 1st place Renault. Montoya held on to his position, finishing the race in fifth position.

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I hate to say it, but this race is bringing back painful memories of last year. Will mechanical failures again lead to the team's demise?

Let's hope not.

For more info on the F1 season opener in Bahrain as well as driver and team interviews, keep reading for the full press release.









OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE


F1 Bahrain: Kimi Räikkönen Third from last Place on the Grid


Bahrain, Mar 12, 2006
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.”

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