McLaren makes it three out of three

"What a race," exclaimed an exhausted Raikkonen. "I think with some of the bad luck I have experienced in the past it was time that I was lucky.

"When the race started for real, it was difficult to see where you were going because of all the spray. I stayed out when the Safety Car came out again whilst the majority of the field came in for their pitstops. I was able to overtake a couple of cars to take second but as the circuit started to get drier my rain tyres were not working as well, which allowed Giancarlo to close in. He overtook me when I went wide. I was coming into the pits for my final stop when the race was red flagged."

Coulthard was not so lucky, despite dominating for much of the time. "A day of mixed emotions, but I'm pleased for the team as we did get some important points," he said. "I'm obviously a little disappointed as I felt I was having a good race and was in control.

"It was the right decision to start behind the Safety Car as you could see from the many accidents once the race was on. I'm happy with my performance today as I was leading most of the race under the most difficult conditions you can imagine."

Team Principal, Ron Dennis, was ecstatic with the result but spared a thought for the Jordan team who initially thought the win was theirs.

"A tremendous and well deserved result for the team. We varied our strategies with the hope of covering all the potential eventualities, which certainly played a role in Kimi's race win.

"David's drive was outstanding, and his fourth place was a poor reward for his efforts. For both drivers to finish with intact cars was a credit to their driving skills and the equipment provided by the team as a whole. Our commiserations but admiration to the Jordan team whose sporting behaviour after the race was a credit to them and to the sport."