2006 BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX – RACE RESULTS KIMI RAIKKONEN
“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.”
2006 BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX – QUALIFYING
Kimi Raikkonen will start tomorrow’s race from the back of the grid after a right rear suspension failure on his first flying lap which meant that he failed to set a time. JUAN PABLO MONTOYA
“I think we did a good job with the new format, and it ran very smoothly for me. I am a little surprised to finish so far up as we had not been looking good in the earlier sessions when I have been suffering from understeer, but that is what the car could do when it counted. I think we have a good strategy for the race, so we will have to wait and see what will happen tomorrow.” KIMI RAIKKONEN
“There is not much I can say about today. It is very disappointing to not even complete one timed lap as I believe that the team had a good strategy for the new qualifying system, and I could have been amongst the quickest. Although it is far from ideal to start from the back of the grid, there are overtaking opportunities at this track, and I have done this before and still achieved good results. We will just have to see what happens in the race tomorrow.”
もうね。アボガド。
この、ピザエンジン!!!!
さ っ さ と 跳 馬 に サ イ ン 汁 !!! > キミ ENGINE FAILURE FOR KIMI: Raikkonen’s
McLaren has stopped and it looks like an engine failure…
The car is stuck in gear and there is smoke bellowing out of the cockpit…
期待しちゃいけなかったのは、わかってたけどさ…_| ̄|○ノシノシ <ヒドイヨ
2006 BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX – FRIDAY PRACTICE KIMI RAIKKONEN
“We didn’t do too much in the first session, and then this afternoon we were carrying out Michelin tyre comparisons. Unfortunately I stopped on track due to a suspected electrical problem towards the end of the last session, which meant that we did not manage to complete our programme, so we will have to wait and see where we are tomorrow.” JUAN PABLO MONTOYA
“The normal Friday tyre evaluation work. I am still not satisfied with the outcome of the first practice day, so we will have to continue our work in tomorrow’s free practice session to improve our package in order to be in with a chance of a good qualifying result. The race should be a different story.”
Ralf slams Kimi
Ralf Schumacher has aimed fire at a ‘cool’ F1 rival — so-called ‘iceman’ Kimi Raikkonen.
30-year-old Schumacher, who drives for Toyota, was asked by the German ‘Stuttgarter Zeitung’ newspaper what he thought of McLaren’s monosyllabic Finnish star.
”People call him ‘cool’, because he doesn’t say anything,” Ralf, the younger brother of world champion Michael Schumacher, said.
”But if I ran around the paddock behaving like him, people would call me the most arrogant idiot of all time.”
2006 BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX – PREVIEW KIMI RAIKKONEN
“It is great to be back racing in Bahrain this weekend. It has been a busy winter season for us, with hard work taking place in every part of the team. Since my first outing in the MP4-21 at Barcelona on Thursday 26th January I have covered more than 3200 km with the new car. The car has felt good on track and is quick, which can be seen from the improvements in lap times of more than 3 seconds. Of course I want to carry on from our performance last year and be challenging for race wins, however we will only see where we are in Bahrain after qualifying. It is also going to be interesting this weekend to go back to tyre changes in the pit stops, we had to adapt driving styles slightly for last year as we didn’t have tyre changes, so it may mean people are more aggressive as it is not so important to look after your tyres. Bahrain is a good track, it always seems to have exciting races and I hope there will be another one this year to start the 2006 season.” JUAN PABLO MONTOYA
“The start of the 2006 season will be even more exciting than the previous years with all the changes of the technical and sporting regulations. It is a bit different for me this year as I now know the team and the car really well from the very start of the season. We have completed some intensive work on the test track. Since starting my test programme with the MP4-21 on 24 January I have been at the wheel for 12 days and covered more than 3500 km. In addition to this I have spent 8 days at the McLaren Technology Centre with the engineers, working on debriefs, seat-fitting and in the simulation department and I feel well prepared for the long season ahead. But as always there is a lot of work still to be done. The Bahrain track hasn’t been my most successful venue to date, and starting there will be slightly tougher for me, as I didn’t race there last season. However I qualified well in 2004 and I always enjoy driving on tracks designed by Hermann Tilke. It has a good mix of corners, turn 12 is pretty cool and quite like Eau Rouge, so you are pushing it hard through the corner as it sweeps you right up the hill. The track is quite tough on the brakes though, as there are a number of long straights and slow corners, and little chance for them to cool. However it is not as bad as Canada, but we do need to make sure we manage this through the race.”