UpdateF1 >> Formula 1 News > Race: Super Kimi rules Suzuka

Raikkonen wins stunner

Kimi Raikkonen stole an amazing win in the Japanese Grand Prix, starting 17th on the grid in the McLaren and taking the lead from Giancarlo Fisichella on the last lap.

The passing move was one of many in what was the best race for a long time, with battles taking place throughout the field for the duration.

New World Champion Fernando Alonso took third place after a hard fought race, his afternoon involving some of the most audacious overtaking seen all year.

The race got off to an exciting start with pole-sitter Ralf Schumacher blasting the Toyota into the lead ahead of pre-race favourite Fisichella, the Renault driver taking a watching brief ahead of Jenson Button's BAR and the fast-starting Red Bull of David Coulthard.

Behind these four a messy first lap was unfolding as Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari) and Takuma Sato in the second BAR collided at the first corner. Further around the lap Christian Klien took to the grass, as did Raikkonen briefly. The lap, however, claimed Juan Pablo Montoya as its victim, the Colombian finding his McLaren with no grip into the final corner, slamming into the barrier and tearing one side off the car.

The next five laps ran under the safety car before
Schumacher Jnr resumed racing speed and began to pull away. It sooned proved a false hope as the Toyota went for the pits on lap 13.

Alonso, meanwhile, had fallen victim to an FIA decision - having passed Klien by taking to the grass the Spaniard let the Red Bull through, then immediately re-passed and set about chasing Michael Schumacher's Ferrari. It wasn't to be, as the stewards decided he had to let Klien by again, which he promptly did!

After this interruption a battle royal ensued between World Champions old and new, as Alonso closed down Schumacher, with Raikkonen just behind. What followed was simply sensational as Alonso, diving all over the back of the Ferrari, finally committed to a pass around the outside of the daunting 130R, nailing the place in what was to be one of many superb passes in a captivating race.

As leader Fisichella pitted for fuel, followed soon by Alonso and Button, the fight transferred to Raikkonen, who now had the Ferrari firmly in his sights. The two pitted together, the Ferrari just ahead having fuelled shorter than the McLaren.

The action was none stop, with Alonso passing Schumacher with a fantastic move on the straight, and Raikkonen right up with the squabbling Mark Webber, driving a fine race in the Williams-BMW, and Jenson Button. But the real excitement was yet to come.

With 16 laps left to go, Fisichella made his final pit stop from 17 seconds ahead of the field, leaving Raikkonen in the lead. The Finn put in fastest laps repeatedly, pitted with eight laps to go, and emerged just five seconds behind the lead Renault.

Immediately it was clear that a grandstand finish was on the cards as the McLaren took more than a second a lap out of the Renault lap after lap. With two laps to go the two were together, the McLaren looking poised and menacing, the Renault threatened and in danger.

Crossing the line with a lap left, Raikkonen had kept close enough to Fisichella through the chicane and, the Renault having covered the inside, Kimi had to commit to the outside of the corner. In a stunning second he forced the McLaren through, a move of breathtaking brilliance and bravery. The win was his.

Fisichella and Renault had been beaten, fair and square, by brilliant driving and superb team tactics.

Mark Webber drove his finest race of the season for an excellent fourth place, well deserved and hard earned in such a frantic race. Behind him, Jenson Button finished a dissappointed fifth, the BAR flattering to deceive, with David Coulthard an excellent sixth for Red Bull Racing.

Michael Schumacher may leave Japan with serious questions about his future, having been out-raced by the two young pretenders to the crown, and Ralf Schumacher took the final point, the Toyota again failing to capitalise on its obvious qualifying speed.

Klien finished ninth after a lacklustre race, the two Saubers of Felipe Massa and Jacques Villeneuve in tenth and 11th.

The other finishers were Rubens Barrichello, almost invisible today after his first lap accident, Takuma Sato, who helped Rubens into the gravel and also caused the demise of Jarno Trulli by driving into the side of the Toyota, followed by Tiago Monteiro's Jordan, Robert Doornbos' Minardi, and the sister cars of Narain Karthikeyan and Christijan Albers.

In one of the finest races of recent times, Raikkonen showed class and commitment beyond his years, as did incumbent World Champion Alonso.

Following the race, Ron Dennis described it as the finest of the Finn's career and, rightly, praised the team for their excellent work. Then, in a rare display of emotion, he struggled to continue. It is not often the McLaren boss is lost for words.

Written: Sun, 09 Oct 2005 07:18:01