When McLaren's boss cried while describing Kimi Raikkonen's epic drive through the field back in 2005
Former McLaren team boss Ron Dennis once got emotional when talking about Kimi Raikkonen's exceptional drive to victory back in the 2005 F1 Japanese GP.
In 2005, Raikkonen was in a fierce title battle with Renault driver Fernando Alonso. At the time, the Finnish driver was in McLaren, and the British team was in a battle for constructors' with Renault as well. Coming to the Japanese GP, Alonso already sealed the drivers' championship in the previous race in Brazil. However, the race for the constructors title continued.
In the qualifying session in Japan, many top drivers struggled to clock a fast lap due to extremely wet track conditions. This resulted in the likes of Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso, and Kimi Raikkonen starting Sunday's race from lower grid places. The then-McLaren driver was in P17, while Alonso was in P16. It was quite clear that the Grand Prix was going to be a treat to watch since the top two drivers were down the grid.
At the start of the race, he quickly gained several places and was in P13. By Lap 14, he was already in P8 and making moves on the drivers who were near the top. Nearing the end of the race, he managed to get the lead of the race but still had to come for a pitstop. The team was perfect in their pitstop and allowed Raikkonen to get out on track in P2 and chase down Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella for the race win.
After the race, Ron Dennis was interviewed by the media, where he immediately started welling up while praising Kimi Raikkonen's herculean drive from P17 to P1. He also commended the team's efforts and their strategies that allowed the Finn to keep pushing up the grid.
"Yeah a lot...I think the best race of his career. Very proud for the team. Bit emotional. When you qualify so badly and the circumstances are as they were, you really have to dig deep to find the best solution every single lap. And the strategists just did a fantastic job. These things unfold and nothing should ever take anything away from Kimi but it was tremendous team victory," Dennis said.
Kimi Raikkonen's thoughts on winning the 2005 Japanese GP from P17
After winning the Japanese GP in 2005, Kimi Raikkonen shared his thoughts on taking the chequered flag from P17. In the post-race press conference, he explained that this particular race win was much sweeter since he had to fight for it. He added that he was delighted to have this result after a tough race weekend before the Grand Prix.
Of course, it was much more difficult than any other of my wins but in one way it is much nicer when you have to fight for it. So it is one of the best ones. It was great, you know, with all the problems in the practice with the engine then the ten-place penalty and all the problems in the qualifying with the weather. So we were still able to win and now we have perfect place for qualifying in the last race," Raikkonen said.
At the end of the 2005 F1 season, Kimi Raikkonen finished second in the drivers' championship table with 112 points. He later went on to win his first and only world championship in 2007 with Ferrari.