2005 Japanese GP: Räikkönen wins from 17th with a last-lap pass

Kimi Räikkönen started only 17th in the McLaren. Even so, he won the 2005 Japanese GP at Suzuka Circuit. He only took the lead on the 53rd and final lap, passing Giancarlo Fisichella's Renault at Turn 1. Wet qualifying had pushed world champion Fernando Alonso down to 16th on the grid. He completed the podium in third.

Back then, each driver ran their qualifying lap alone. Rain began to fall in the middle of the decisive session, and the later a driver went out, the wetter the track was. That put Ralf Schumacher on pole for Toyota with a 1:46.106. Alongside him was Jenson Button in the BAR, with Fisichella third. The top drivers, by contrast, were well down the order: Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) in 14th, Alonso 16th, Räikkönen 17th and Juan Pablo Montoya 18th. According to Motor Sport, Fisichella remarked drily: “We have two McLarens at the back.”

Jarno Trulli had spun in qualifying and started the second Toyota only 19th.

Ralf Schumacher kept the lead at the start. But Montoya's race was over on the very first lap. He tried to pass Jacques Villeneuve's Sauber before the start-finish straight, was forced wide and crashed heavily. With the constructors' title fight so tight, that was a serious blow for McLaren. The stewards later handed Villeneuve a 25-second time penalty.

The Safety Car period after the crash lasted a long time and wrecked Ralf Schumacher's plan. Toyota had put him on a three-stop strategy. The idea was for him to pull away on a light fuel load, but behind the Safety Car his heavily fuelled rivals were able to keep up. After his first stop he rejoined in traffic. According to our data, Fisichella led from lap 13. After that, the staggered pit stops meant the lead changed hands several times: Button took over from lap 21, David Coulthard in the Red Bull from lap 23 and Michael Schumacher from lap 24. From lap 27, Fisichella was back in front.

There were retirements in the midfield too. Takuma Sato tried to get past Trulli at the chicane and hit the side of the Toyota. Trulli's race was over after 9 laps. Antônio Pizzonia also crashed out of the race in his Williams after 9 laps.

According to Wikipedia, Alonso was already seventh after the first lap. But he then lost time. While overtaking Christian Klien, he cut the chicane and had to give the position back. According to grandprix.com, he braked heavily on lap 11 after race control instructed him to let Klien back past. Renault team principal Flavio Briatore was later convinced that this lost time had cost Alonso the win.

Alonso did, however, pull off the most spectacular move of the day. On lap 19 he passed Michael Schumacher around the outside of the fast 130R. According to Renault telemetry, he was doing 206 mph there, roughly 330 km/h. On lap 32 Schumacher braked too late into the chicane, and Alonso passed him again on the start-finish straight. By the end of lap 49 Alonso was up to 3rd. On the way, he had overtaken Mark Webber with his wheels on the grass.

Räikkönen was carrying a lot of fuel and worked his way through the field well, including past Michael Schumacher's Ferrari. Thanks to his late stops, he led from lap 41. He made his final pit stop at the end of lap 45. According to Mail & Guardian, he then trailed Fisichella, who was back in front from lap 46, by around 5.4 seconds.

Then the chase began. On lap 44, Räikkönen set the fastest lap of the race with a 1:31.540. According to Wikipedia, he took 1.3 seconds out of Fisichella on lap 49 alone. On the penultimate lap, the Italian took the inside line at the chicane to defend. That left him slower onto the straight. Räikkönen tucked into his slipstream and passed him around the outside at Turn 1 at the start of the 53rd lap. At the finish, Fisichella was 1.633 seconds behind. The McLaren garage erupted in celebration, and according to The Race, Ron Dennis called it Räikkönen's best win.

Winners:
- Kimi Räikkönen: gained 16 places, took the win and set the fastest lap.
- Fernando Alonso: went from 16th on the grid to the podium, a gain of 13 places.
- Michael Schumacher and Tiago Monteiro (Jordan): each gained 7 places. Schumacher finished seventh, Monteiro thirteenth.
- Mark Webber: went from 7th on the grid to 4th, the best Williams result of the day.

Losers:
- Ralf Schumacher: from pole he finished only eighth, losing 7 places, because the Safety Car period ruined his three-stop strategy.
- Christian Klien: started fourth and finished ninth.
- Takuma Sato: took the chequered flag at his home race but was disqualified. According to Wikipedia, this was because of the collision with Trulli.
- Juan Pablo Montoya: his race was over on the first lap.

Alonso had already clinched the drivers' title at the Brazilian GP. In the 2005 standings he led after Suzuka with 123 points, ahead of Räikkönen on 104. Michael Schumacher moved up to 3rd with 62 points, ahead of Montoya on 60.

The constructors' title fight, however, remained open. According to Wikipedia, McLaren had led by two points before the race. With Montoya failing to score and both Renaults on the podium, the order was reversed: Renault went into the finale at the Chinese GP on 176 points, ahead of McLaren on 174. Ferrari followed on 100 and Toyota on 82 points.

The race is still regarded as one of the best in Formula 1 history. Motor Sport includes it in its list of the 75 greatest Grands Prix. Looking back: according to Wikipedia, it remained the last win for Räikkönen and McLaren until the 2007 season.