HOCKENHEIM, Germany, 30 July 2003 — Finland’s Kimi Raikkonen goes into this weekend’s German Grand Prix at Hockenheim knowing he probably needs a victory if he is to close the gap on Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher.
The McLaren-Mercedes driver currently lies seven points behind the five-time world champion, who leads the championship standings with 69 points.
But with only five races remaining and with Schumacher having only failed to get in the points once this season — the rain-soaked Brazilian Grand Prix in April — Raikkonen knows only a win will ensure he closes the gap.
“There are still five races to go, including this week’s German Grand Prix, and there is only a gap of seven points to the lead of the Drivers Championship, with a lot of points still to be won,” said the 23-year-old Finn.
“The German race always seems to be fairly entertaining and it was certainly eventful for me last year, with my battle with (Juan-Pablo) Montoya,” said Raikkonen referring to his titanic struggle with the BMW-Williams driver.
Raikkonen may have the Colombian as a future teammate as rumors continue to circulate that David Coulthard could be dropped by McLaren for next season and repaced with Montoya.
Coulthard has disappointed this season and currently languishes in seventh place in the championship standings, 29 points behind Raikkonen. The Scotsman has found it especially difficult to adapt to the new single lap qualifying system and is still waiting on confirmation that he will be at McLaren in 2004.
However the Scot is optimistic he can build on his performance at the British Grand Prix where he finished fifth despite only qualifying in 12th place.
“Despite my race being somewhat compromised at Silverstone due to my qualifying position, it was encouraging to come home in fifth,” said the 32-year-old.
“We now move to the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim, which is one of the fastest tracks on the calendar, and despite the modifications it is still renowned as a car breaker. It provides a number of genuine overtaking opportunities, including a wide hairpin at the new Parabolika.”
The German Grand Prix at Hockenheim is won of two home races for McLaren- Mercedes (the other being the European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring) and McLaren Managing Director Martin Whitmarsh is confident points can be scored by both Raikkonen and Coulthard. “We arrive at Hockenheim looking to maximize the capabilities of our car and secure a solid points total. The layout of the track should suit the capabilities of this car and we are looking for a strong result,” said Whitmarsh ahead of Sunday’s race.
