Villeneuve Cost Raikkonen Win, Says Dennis

McLaren boss Ron Dennis accused BAR's Canadian Jacques Villeneuve of wrecking Formula One leader Kimi Raikkonen's chances of winning the Monaco Grand Prix today.

Raikkonen finished runner-up behind the Williams of Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya to increase his overall lead over Ferrari's World Champion Michael Schumacher to four points, but Dennis nursed a grievance.

"I feel a bit disappointed," said Dennis, whose team won Monaco last year with Briton David Coulthard. "I think Jacques Villeneuve was very slow in letting Kimi pass at a time when it was critical to the race.

"They didn't put out a blue (warning) flag for over a lap and then he ignored them for several corners and that cost us really the race win. I think any chance of the win was removed because of that," he added.

Dennis said Raikkonen, who finished just 0.602 of a second behind Montoya, was running considerably faster than the Colombian in the five laps before his last stop and after Montoya had left the pits for the last time.

The Finn set the fastest lap of the race, a record time of 1:14.545, on lap 49.

"If he hadn't had the traffic he would have emerged ahead of Montoya after his next stop," he said. "It's Monte Carlo but it's frustrating."

Dennis said he was 'generally happy' about the outcome, with Raikkonen's second place ahead of Schumacher in third and McLaren regaining the overall lead in the Constructors' Championship.

"I think the driving standard was excellent. It was a fast race and it is unusual for Monaco not to have incidents," he said.

Coulthard, who also won in 2000, finished seventh after being stuck behind Italian Jarno Trulli's Renault for much of the race.

"I think he's disappointed with his own performance," said Dennis of the Scot. "It doesn't need me to put any more pressure on. He didn't qualify well and paid the price through the weekend."