McLaren show pace for the first time since Suzuka.

By Parminio
July 12 2004

Kimi's pole possition was actually enough for most of us fans. The excitement and jubilation of just seeing a black and silver car on the front row was more than enough to make this McLaren fan jump up and down.

It didn't end there. Most were under the impression that Kimi must have been on fumes to get the pole at Silverstone. Even the commentators imagined that Kimi would pit very early and lose out to the Ferrari' of Rubens and Michael. At the start Kimi rocketed away by just over 3 seconds on the first lap, lending more wieght to that thought that he must be light on fuel.

When Rubens pitted first, McLaren fans everywhere came to their feet.

The Ferrari of Micheal Schumacher and Schumachers 'miracle lap' ability however, could not be overcome. On a two stop strategy, the first of the year for Schumacher, it appeared during the early going to be a mistake. Once Kimi pitted however, and the Ferrari had burned off enough gas, Michael did what he does best: Turn out several laps faster than anyone else was capable of. Ripping off laps in the 1:18's, Michael entered the pits for his first stop and emerged just in front of Kimi's McLaren.

The chase was on at that point for the rest of the race. Although Kimi was able to close in the 2nd and 3rd sectors, once the Ferrari reached the front straight the McLaren was simply outclassed. In the end, Michael was able to pull out to a 6 second lead that Kimi could not overcome.

After a terrible shunt by Jarno Trulli's Renault, the safety car was deployed giving Kimi one last chance at Michael. It just wasn't enough though, and Kimi settled for 2nd place.

We'll take it! It was for all McLaren fans everywhere THE race of the year. The MP4-19B in it's second appearance has done what the 19 could not do for half the year: Podium. Not only that, the car just looked good on the track. It handled curbs much better, seemed to not understeer nearly as bad, and once again seemed to not have reliability issues.

If Mercedes Benz gets a bit more out of the engine, McLaren just may be a force to be reckoned with for the second half of the season.