Ron Dennis Q&A
Hockenheim was a race of mixed emotions for McLaren. The team lost Kimi Raikkonen at the start, but David Coulthard fought his way up from a lowly grid position to take second place, his two-stop strategy and the first lap shunt helping him to climb the order. Raikkonen lost ground in the championship to both winner Juan Pablo Montoya and Michael Schumacher, but he's still in the frame, and McLaren is only 17 points behind Ferrari in the constructors' version, a difference these days that can be overturned in one weekend. Adam Cooper spoke to team boss Ron Dennis
"He did a good race. I think the second place came from us switching strategies from three to two. That really put everybody into the same boat. Obviously they switched on their stops, and probably loaded their tyres a bit more. We benefited from having a better car, and handling the tyres in a less aggressive way. I feel it was a good drive by David, but a very good team second place."
"Yes, he did a good job. The only strange thing was that Michael overtook a car having gone off the circuit. When the penalty was so clear, in practice we can't see how you can overtake a car in that way. Of course it happened with David, he went off the circuit too, but he didn't actually gain any position on it, and that's the difference."
"Yes. No doubt there were a few cars put out, but nevertheless it was a great drive from him."
"No. it had no relevance to the race."
"Completely. There was no way that Ralf appreciated what was going on. He squeezed Rubens, and Rubens squeezed onto Kimi [This was before Ralf's penalty was announced]."
"Absolutely. One DNF, and it's back on, isn't it?"
"It's great for Juan, but no."
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