Kimi Raikkonen has swiftly put the disappointment of losing the 2005 F1 championship behind him… The Finn produced the best performance of his career to snatch victory from a rattled Giancarlo Fisichella on the final lap of Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix!
Kimi Raikkonen has swiftly put the disappointment of losing the 2005 F1 championship behind him… The Finn produced the best performance of his career to snatch victory from a rattled Giancarlo Fisichella on the final lap of Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix!
By Mike Fourie, News Ed.
Three days ago, most F1 pundits would have tipped Kimi Raikkonen to win at Suzuka this weekend – in fact, many suggested that McLaren-Mercedes would be unstoppable in Japan. However, fate (and shall we say, the weather gods) intervened and stacked incredible odds against Raikkonen over the weekend. First, the engine in Raikkonen’s MP4-20 expired during Friday’s practice session, inflicting yet another ten-place grid relegation on the Ice Man. Then, the heavens opened at the end of Saturday’s qualifying session and compromised Raikkonen’s qualifying lap. The Finn would start at the rear of grid and his only consolation was that rival Fernando Alonso (who barely completed his qualifying lap) was there with him.
Despite Juan-Pablo Montoya’s impressive victories at Silverstone, Monza and Brazil, the mercurial Colombian has had a patchy 2005. More often that not, Raikkonen has been leading McLaren’s fightback on his own, and the trend continued at Suzuka. Montoya tangled with Villeneuve on the opening lap, and although it appeared that the Canadian was largely to blame, the Colombian has always seemed the McLaren driver most likely to be involved in an accident (remember the ridiculous Antonio Pizzonia incident at Spa?).
Renault fails to make inroads
One lap into the Japanese Grand Prix, the penultimate race of the season seemed there for the taking for Renault. The French team, locked in a battle for the constructor’s championship with form team McLaren, had Fisichella (who gained a strong grid position thanks to near-perfect conditions during his qualifying lap) in second position, Montoya was out and Alonso was ahead of Raikkonen.
I’ve often criticised McLaren this year for poor reliability and lack of team work between its drivers (Montoya gifted second-place finishes to Alonso in Turkey and at Spa), it was Renault who came unstuck on Sunday and it showed on the faces of Fisi and Alonso when the pair stood abreast of Raikkonen on the podium.
Fisichella has not really challenged for the lead of a grand prix since his win in Melbourne and his lack of fighting instinct was painfully apparent in the closing stages of the Japanese Grand Prix. The diminutive Italian hasn’t matched Alonso’s pace very often this season and one could argue that his car probably had a more conservative setup than Alonso’s in Japan. But, the weight of Renault’s expectations and the pressure of pacing the grand prix from the front (as opposed to Alonso and Raikkonen’s do-or-die charges from the back of the grid) made Fisi crack. At a track notorious for its lack of overtaking opportunities, he made feeble attempts to repel Raikkonen’s challenge and relinquished the lead at Turn One of the final lap.
Could this be the beginning of the end for Fisico? Last year, when Monaco Grand Prix winner Jarno Trulli lost third place to Rubens Barrichello at the final corner of the French Grand Prix, Renault boss Flavio Briatore famously turned on his favoured son and told him he was no longer welcome at Enstone. With talented youngsters Heikki Kovaleinen, Nico Rosberg, Scott Speed and others waiting in the wings, Fisichella might not have a long future in Formula One.
Alonso falls foul of bungling race officials
Although there is a rule in F1 that a driver may not cut a corner to gain a position, and if he does, he must immediately relinquish the position to his competitor, it isn’t very well defined or enforced…
At Monza, in one of their rare duels of the season, Raikkonen cut the track when he overtook Alonso. Realising that he might be penalised for the move, the Finn backed off – but just long enough for the Spaniard to get his Renault’s nose ahead of the
