Raikkonen Rues Losing Second Place

Finn Kimi Raikkonen was happy to close the gap to the lead of the Championship despite losing what looked set to be a second place finish at today's British Grand Prix.

Raikkonen was running in second position when he went off the track at the Stowe corner in the final part of the race, allowing Williams rival Juan Pablo Montoya to move ahead of him.

The McLaren driver, however, finished ahead of Championship leader Michael Schumacher, who was fourth today.

"The most important thing is that we managed to close the gap in the Drivers' World Championship by one point," said the Finn. "I probably could have finished second, but halfway through my final stint I was really struggling with the balance on my last set of tyres and subsequently lost a lot of time.

"To make matters worse I lost the rear momentarily braking at Stowe which allowed Montoya to get past. At the end of the day you never know, later in the season the one point we scored today might prove crucial."

Scottish teammate David Coulthard recovered from his poor 12th position in qualifying to finish in fifth place as the top British driver.

"Considering my start position we can be pleased with fifth," said the Scot. "Obviously an unusual race with this lunatic on the track, but the safety car was deployed quickly. I was able to gain a couple of positions at the start, but things were looking difficult when my head restraint fixings broke.

"I had to come into the pits at which point the team also changed the strategy. The balance of the car became better during the race so I was able to do some really quick laps at the end, which ultimately helped me to overtake Jarno and claim fifth."