This weekend marked the sixth F1 race of the season for the McLaren Mercedes team in Barcelona, Spain.  Unfortunately, the results were much like they've been in this season's earlier events - disappointing.

For Kimi Raikkonen, the weekend started poorly, with the Finn qualifying in ninth position. Despite his poor placement on the grid, Kimi showed his aggressive streak early, immediately accelerating from ninth place up to fifth going into the first turn.  On lap 22, Kimi had worked his way up into the third position before making his first pit stop.  After exiting the pits, Kimi slipped back into seventh, but managed to work his way back up to third when he took his second pit stop on lap 46.  After resuming the race for the second time, Kimi fell back to fifth - the position he held through the close of the 66-lap race.

For teammate Juan Pablo Montoya, the day again ended much worse. After starting the race from twelfth position, Montoya immediately lost three positions going into the first turn.  By the end of the first lap, however, Montoya regained his composure, working his way back up into eleventh position.  On lap 17, Juan entered the pits for the first time, resuming the race in tenth position. One lap later, Montoya spun out, causing his car to become stuck on the curb and forcing him to retire from the race.

In the end, it was again Renault's Fernando Alonso capturing the win, while Ferrari's Michael Schumacher and Alonso's teammate Giancarlo Fisichella taking the second and third spots, respectively.

For more info, check out the McLaren Mercedes team press release below.


OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE


2006 Formula 1 World Championship, 6th round: Spanish Grand Prix

Barcelona, May 14, 2006
McLaren Mercedes driver Kimi Räikkönen finished the Spanish Grand Prix in fifth position. After 66 laps he took the chequered flag 56.8sec behind race winner Fernando Alonso (Renault). Juan Pablo Montoya was forced to retire on lap 18 after his car got stuck on a high kerb after spinning off the track. Team McLaren Mercedes is third in the Constructors' ranking on 42 points behind Renault on 78 points. Kimi holds third in the Drivers' Championship with 27 points whilst Juan Pablo is seventh on 15 points. Fernando Alonso leads the table with 54 points.

The start: Kimi had qualified ninth and at the start accelerated past four cars going into the first corner to take fifth position. Juan Pablo started the race from 12th place and completed the opening lap in 11th spot.

The race: On the 17th lap Alonso triggered the opening round of pit stops for the leading bunch. Kimi was holding third place when he came in for his first stop on lap 22 (7.9sec). He resumed the race in seventh position and was fifth again on lap 26. Kimi came in for his second pit stop on lap 46 (7.6sec) in third position and resumed again in fifth. After 66 laps he took the chequered flag in fifth place.

Juan Pablo spun on lap 18 while holding tenth position. His car got stuck on the kerb and he could not continue.

Comments

Kimi Räikkönen: “A rather uneventful race for me. I made a good start where I managed to get up from ninth to fifth and that was all the progress I was able to make. It was simply not possible to keep up with the Renaults and the Ferraris this weekend, and we will spend the time before the Monaco Grand Prix looking at ways to improve."

Juan Pablo Montoya: "I made a dreadful start off the line and lost three or four places but managed to gain some ground again in the first corner to end up 11th. Then I don't know quite what happened, but I lost the car and got stuck on the kerb and that was it. The strategy we were running meant that I carried a lot of fuel, and I think with the ways things were looking we could have scored some points today. Overall a difficult weekend for us, but we will continue testing this week and then look forward to the Monaco Grand Prix."

Ron Dennis, Team Principal: "A difficult weekend for us where despite a good drive by Kimi, we were only able to achieve fifth place. The whole team is working hard to improve the package to increase our performance in the coming races."

Norbert Haug, Vice President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: "To be the third team behind Renault and Ferrari again and the gap to the leaders is a disappointment that we have to change. Kimi made a perfect start to improve from ninth to fifth, but the overall pace of his car was not fast enough, and he delivered what was possible today. Juan Pablo was on a one stop strategy, but he spun out of a possible points result the cause of which we will investigate. Our attention is now on improving our technical package during the next races."

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