Dennis Impressed by Raikkonen's Drive

Team boss Ron Dennis was impressed by Kimi Raikkonen's drive to fourth place at today's French Grand Prix.

The team's Championship challenger Raikkonen went on to finish right behind the Ferrari of main rival Michael Schumacher, despite racing for the last three laps without rear brakes.

"We were very confused because he was still lapping in one minute 18 with no rear brakes," said Dennis. "The data showed he had no rear brakes, he said he had no rear brakes but the lap time didn't reflect it.

"So it was a pretty impressive effort and at the end of the day I see the race as damage limitation. The one point conceded to Michael (Schumacher) could have been more."

Schumacher passed the Finn at his final pitstop in a race won by Ralf Schumacher, who led Colombian team mate Juan Pablo Montoya in a Williams one-two finish.

Ferrari's Schumacher leads the Championship by eight points from Raikkonen with six races remaining.

"Not a brilliant day," said Raikkonen in a team statement. "However on the bright side Michael only managed to extend his lead by one point. But the championship is getting closer with Ralf Schumacher closing on me."

Ralf is three points behind Raikkonen.