First GP victory for Kimi Raikkonen

Published on 23 March 2003 by Huub Rothengatter

In the burning heat of Kuala Lumpur the Fin Kimi Raikkonen grabbed his first Grand Prix victory of his career. He also takes the lead in the drivers World Championship. A combination of strong performance and retirements/loss of positions of his main competitors made this victory possible. Jos Verstappen had a very tough race. After he was hit from behind a pit stop was needed to repair the damage. At the end of the race the tyres were that worn to drive decent lap times. Jos finished in 13th and last position.

Kimi Raikkonen smelling the sweet scent of victory

The race started in dry conditions, the temperature was 35 degrees Celsius and the tarmac was even higher. In yesterday's qualification it proved that the Michelins were doing an excellent job in these conditions. Renault occupied the front row, but during the race the Michelins would have to prove if they were as good as the Renaults made them look. This was not the case for Jarno Trulli. After a good start he was hit by Michael Schumacher's Ferrari. Schumacher was punished with a drive through penalty for this unnecesary and Worl Champion undignified action.


A tough race for Jos but finished in 13th

Juan Pablo Montoya and Jos Verstappen had their fair share of bad luch as result of Michael Schumacher's action. Both cars were hit from behind and an emergency repair was needed to enable them to continue the race. It all went to waste: Montoya and Verstappen finished on 12th and 13th position respectively. David Coulthard was not able to continue after the second lap, he had to park his McLaren on the side of the track with a broken and smoking Mercedes engine. The winner of the Australian Grand Prix saw his hopes for a new victory and extending his World Championship position disappear in smoke, literally.



Since the new regulations came into play refuelling between qualification and race is not allowed. It is important to have your startegy ready even before qualifying. Little fuel means you will be the front of the grid but you will need to refuel early in the race. Everyone was surprised by Renault's performance yesterday. Were they indeed this fast or were they just light on fuel? The answer was given during the race, both Renault's were on a similar pit stop strategy as all other. It looks like team boss Flavio Briatore has an excellent package: good car, good tyres and drivers who are doing their work perfectly. This team is one to watch out for this season.

As said; two stops for nearly everyone but in the end it was Kimi Raikonnen who was fastest of all. From start to his first pit stop he gained on Fernando Alonso, after his second stop he had the lead and held on to it. The young Fin finished with a lead of 39 seconds ahead of Rubens Barrichello. Alonso saw his efforts of this weekend rewarded with a deserved 3rd place. Ralf Schumacher was able to turn his embarassing 17th starting position into a 4th finish. Jarno Trulli and Michael Schumacher were fifth and sixth.

We hope to be able to speak to Jos later.