In 2003, Kimi Raikkonen fiercely contested for the World Championship title. He was joined in the competition by Juan Pablo Montoya and reigning F1 Champion Michael Schumacher.
The 23-year-old Finn had just joined McLaren in 2002 but immediately impressed his peers with his pure pace. But in 2003, Kimi would finally get the chance to prove his worth as a Championship contender.
But fighting for titles alongside the likes of Schumacher, Montoya, Barrichello, Coulthard and other reputed drivers was not easy. Yet Raikkonen managed to stay in the race until the last race of the season.
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When Kimi Raikkonen Shocked Montoya with US GP Pole
Kimi Raikkonen had a strong start to the 2003 season. The Finn won the first race of his F1 career in Malaysia. He was one of the contenders for the 2003 title along with Michael Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya.
Raikkonen’s pace was also aided by the McLaren McLaren MP4-18 which was designed by Adrian Newey. But his run of performances halted midway which allowed Ferrari and Williams-BMW to catch up.
However, it was never easy to write off Raikkonen. And towards the end of the season, Raikkonen started to gain back his deficit with some good runs, including a pole position at the 2003 US Grand Prix.
Montoya himself was baffled by Kimi’s pace as he said, “McLaren always gives you surprises. They were nowhere near and then come qualifying and they are there!”
Raikkonen beat Ferrari’s Rubens Barrichello and Toyota’s Olivier Panis to claim the pole with a top speed record of 340 KmH. Funnily, the Finn was battling understeer with new tyres, yet managed to stick his car in the front row with ease.
Raikkonen lost to Schumacher by 2 points
Despite qualifying on pole, Kimi Raikkonen was unable to convert it into a win. That would be taken by Michael Schumacher who extended his lead over Kimi by 9 points and knocked JP Montoya of the title race.
Kimi felt betrayed due to the Rain that affected his chances to win. He commented, “The weather basically lost us the race victory today as we were not as quick in the wet conditions as Michael.
He added, “I made a good start from pole and was pretty much in control. Once the rain started things changed. We came in at the right times and didn’t put a foot wrong but there was nothing we could do”
Kimi would lose the 2003 title by a margin of 2 points to Schumacher who raked his 4th consecutive title with Ferrari. It was Schumacher’s sixth title, breaking Fangio’s long-standing record of 5 titles.
Raikkonen had led the standings until Monaco GP. However, reliability issues and the lack of wins compared to Ferrari cost the McLaren driver the title.
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