Formula One news

McLaren satisfied with today's result

McLaren Mercedes driver Kimi Raikkonen will be starting tomorrow's French Grand Prix from sixth on the grid having set a time of 1:16.281 in the final qualifying session. Pedro de la Rosa's time of 1:16.632 means that he will be starting from eighth place.

Kimi Raikkonen said about his qualifying performance: "I am pretty happy with the performance of the car, we could be a little faster and there are a few things that could improve. However, with our Michelin tyre choice I expect a stable race performance, and a podium result is what I am aiming for. Otherwise I had an uneventful qualifying."

Making his return in the qualifying session Pedro de la Rosa said: "That was quite interesting from my point of view, especially towards the end when it gets very busy on track. I could have been a bit quicker, but I had a lot of traffic coming out of the pit-lane as I started my last lap on fresh tyres, and I lost nearly four tenths on the high speed turn three. With this qualifying system, which is new to me, you can not afford to have the slightest problem to qualify at the top. We made some changes to the car and as a result it is handling a lot better than yesterday, so I am looking forward to the race and hopefully scoring some points for the team."

McLaren's team boss Ron Dennis commented: "Not a bad qualifying for us and, as is often the case for everyone we encountered a lot of traffic. The grid positions reflect the tyre competition. This will be an important factor in the race, and we expect that our selected Michelins will enable us to be strong tomorrow."

more news

• 07 Jan.
  • Ecclestone reveals September deadline for Donington
  • Ferrari willing to supply 'Honda' with engines
  • Brawn says Honda won't test before season
• 06 Jan.
  • Ferrari to use electronic pitstop system in 2009
  • Kubica to start karting team
  • Webber's recovery going well
  • Ferrari to reveal new car next week
  • Stewart hits out at Ecclestone and Mosley
• 05 Jan.
  • Red Bull's RB5 to debut in February
  • Suspended sentence and fine for Verstappen
  • Berger confirms Buemi for STR
• 04 Jan.
  • Kubica expecting more accidents
• 03 Jan.
  • Encouraging news for Donington
• 02 Jan.
  • Di Resta still hopeful of F1 drive
  • "Title loss would have damaged Hamilton's reputation"
• 01 Jan.
  • Hakkinen supports medals system
• 31 Dec. '08
  • Kubica: Next year is a big challenge
  • Hakkinen: Vettel will soon be a Formula 1 champion
  • Hamilton receives MBE award
  • Heidfeld expects more accidents in 2009
• 30 Dec. '08
  • Hamilton to join Madame Tussauds
  • Ecclestone: Button should take a sabbatical
  • Manager: Alonso would love to join Ferrari one day
  • Changes at Toro Rosso
• 29 Dec. '08
  • Hamilton to miss victory parade in Woking
  • Alonso to join Ferrari in 2011?
  • Mexican billionaire denies Honda bid
• 28 Dec. '08
  • Mexican buyer for Honda?
• 27 Dec. '08
  • F1 drivers positive on Algarve circuit
• 26 Dec. '08
  • Montezemolo says KERS introduction is a mistake
• 25 Dec. '08
  • Season's greetings from GPUpdate.net
• 24 Dec. '08
  • Massa against proposed pay cut
  • Ferrari undecided over Schumacher future
  • Karthikeyan not interested in joining Force India
  • Mosley: Finding a successor won't be easy
  • Ecclestone won't split teams - Howett
  • Mosley may still try to continue
• 23 Dec. '08
  • WSR team Draco teams up with Force India
  • Howett: Ecclestone not able to split FOTA
  • Toyota committed to Formula 1

Homepage