A whitewash for McLaren
McLaren's control of the World Championship took a major hit when neither driver managed to score any points at the Circuit de Catalunya. Indeed, neither driver finished the race
With Ferrari claiming first and third through Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello, McLaren's lead at the top of the constructors' points table is only three over Ferrari, with Kimi Raikkonen's advantage in the drivers' championship down to four over Michael Schumacher after the Finn went out in a startline shunt and David Coulthard was tipped out midrace by Jenson Button.
Team supremo Ron Dennis was philosophical about his team's poor day: "We had a catalogue of problems starting with Kimi's mistake in qualifying and subsequent low grid position that led to the collision with the stationary Pizzonia. David made a good start but suffered a rear impact from Trulli which damaged the rear tyre and forced him to have an early pitstop. He was then making good progress and was more than capable of finishing high in the points until suffering an off as a result of a somewhat badly-judged overtaking manoeuvre from Button. So, overall, it was a disappointing weekend.""
Raikkonen had a very short race to recount as he moved only a few metres before collecting Pizzonia's Jaguar: "I got off the line quickly and was beside one of the Minardis when all of a sudden there was nowhere to go but into the back of Pizzonia."
Coulthard also felt frustrated: "I made a good start, passed a lot of cars and gained more places after the first corner. I knew that it was going to get messy through Turn 2 and I tried to give as much space to the car in front as possible, but unfortunately Jarno ran into the back of me. There was some damage to the floor which made the car difficult to drive, but I still thought that it would be possible to get some points until Jenson and I came together."
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