Raikkonen rues qualifying error

Kimi Raikkonen became the first major casualty of the new one lap qualifying regulations, when he was forced to abort his qualifying run after making an error on his flying lap

May 3, 2003, 3:44 PM

The Finn lost control of his McLaren under braking for turn seven, and slid off into the gravel trap. By aborting his lap, Raikkonen will be able to change his set-up and refuel his car ahead of the race.

"I made a mistake under braking at turn seven and went into the gravel and lost a lot of time," confessed Raikkonen. "It was a shame as I was quick, but these things happen. I will start the race from last on the grid, which is obviously less than ideal but as the races have shown so far this year anything can happen, and we will do our best to get into the points."

It was another poor session all round for McLaren, with David Coulthard only able to qualify eighth after being forced to use the spare car, which was set up for Raikkonen.

"Certainly not the qualifying result we wanted," said Norbert Haug, motorsport director of McLaren's engine supplier Mercedes. "To start from eigthth and last position will make the race difficult - but let's see what tomorrow brings."