Kimi Räikkönen in the McLaren-Mercedes MP4-20 during qualifying at the 2005 United States Grand Prix. Photo: Dan Smith / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.5
On October 9, 2005, Kimi Räikkönen started 17th at Suzuka and won. He took the lead from Giancarlo Fisichella around the outside of the first corner on the final lap, and beat the Renault to the line by 1.633 seconds. The 2005 Japanese Grand Prix is still the race most people mean when they call a comeback drive the best of its era, and it came in a season that was already settled.
A Champion Already Crowned, a Constructors’ Title Still Open
Suzuka was the 18th of 19 rounds. Fernando Alonso had clinched his first drivers’ title two weeks earlier in Brazil, finishing third at Interlagos behind the McLarens of Juan Pablo Montoya and Räikkönen. That result summed up 2005. McLaren’s MP4-20 was usually the faster car. Renault’s R25 was the one that finished.
The constructors’ championship was still live. McLaren arrived in Japan two points ahead of Renault, so both teams had a reason to race hard even though the drivers’ crown was gone.
How Rain Scrambled the 2005 Japanese Grand Prix Grid
Qualifying in 2005 was a one-shot format. Each driver ran a single flying lap on his own, carrying race fuel, in reverse order of the previous race’s finishing positions. Brazil’s top finishers were the last to go out at Suzuka, and rain arrived late in the session.
The result was an upside-down grid. Ralf Schumacher put the Toyota on pole with a 1:46.106, ahead of Jenson Button’s BAR-Honda and Fisichella’s Renault. Michael Schumacher qualified 14th, Alonso 16th and Räikkönen 17th with a 2:02.309. Montoya, the Brazil winner, did not set a time and started 18th.
The Race: 53 Laps From the Back
McLaren lost one car before the end of the first lap. Montoya tried to pass Jacques Villeneuve’s Sauber on the inside at the final corner, was pushed onto the grass and hit the tyre wall. The safety car came out and bunched the field, which helped the drivers at the back and hurt Ralf Schumacher, whose Toyota was running light on fuel.
Alonso produced the pass people still replay. Earlier he had cut the chicane while passing Christian Klien and had to give the place back, which cost him time. Later, he went around the outside of Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari at 130R, one of the fastest corners on the calendar, at more than 200mph. Renault engineer Pat Symonds later called it symbolic: the new champion overtaking the old one. Alonso passed Schumacher again after the stops, then got by Mark Webber with two wheels on the grass, and finished third.
Räikkönen was climbing just as quickly. After picking off cars in the restart, he passed Schumacher around the outside into Turn 1 on lap 30. McLaren ran him longer than Button and Webber before his second stop, and on lap 45 of 53 he made his final stop and rejoined second, several seconds behind Fisichella.
The gap shrank every lap. Räikkönen set the fastest lap of the race, a 1:31.540, on lap 44. He tried Fisichella into Turn 1 on the penultimate lap and the Renault covered it, but Fisichella defended hard into the chicane and lost his exit. Räikkönen ran close behind him down the pit straight, pulled to the outside and took the lead into Turn 1 on the last lap.
Fisichella finished 1.633 seconds behind, with Alonso third, 17.456 seconds back. Webber was fourth for Williams, Button fifth, David Coulthard sixth for Red Bull and Michael Schumacher seventh. Takuma Sato crossed the line 13th but was disqualified for his collision with Jarno Trulli.
What Räikkönen and McLaren Said
Räikkönen, usually short with his words, called it “one of my best races ever.” McLaren team principal Ron Dennis went further, describing it as probably the best drive of Räikkönen’s career and one of the team’s best wins.
Why the 2005 Japanese Grand Prix Mattered
The win was Räikkönen’s seventh of 2005, and it showed what the season could have been. He ended the year second on 112 points to Alonso’s 133, after McLaren’s reliability problems cost him heavily over the year. At Suzuka he showed that on pace alone, he and the MP4-20 were the combination to beat.
For Renault, finishing second and third was what counted. Renault outscored McLaren 14 points to 10 and left Japan two points ahead. A week later in Shanghai, Alonso won and Fisichella finished fourth while Montoya retired, and Renault took the constructors’ title 191 to 182.
The Lasting Effect of the 2005 Japanese Grand Prix
Suzuka 2005 was one of the last showcases for one-shot qualifying. For 2006, F1 switched to the three-part knockout format that, in modified form, it still uses. Suzuka had shown how far a weather-hit single lap could push the fastest cars down the order.
Räikkönen’s 1:31.540 also became the Suzuka race lap record and stayed that way for 14 years, until Lewis Hamilton lapped in 1:30.983 at the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix. Motor Sport magazine has since ranked the race among the greatest Grands Prix ever held.
Both men went on to more. Räikkönen won the world title two years later with Ferrari. Alonso added a second title in 2006 and is still racing more than 20 years later, now with Aston Martin, which has kept him and Lance Stroll for 2027. The Räikkönen name is coming back too: Kimi’s son Robin has joined Red Bull’s junior programme.
Related Reading on Backfire Racing
Five years before Räikkönen’s win, Suzuka decided a title: read how Schumacher won the 2000 Japanese Grand Prix and ended Ferrari’s 21-year wait. For a young Räikkönen at McLaren, see Ferrari’s botched dead heat at Indianapolis in 2002. For another late-season classic, revisit Jacques Villeneuve’s pass on Schumacher at Estoril in 1996, and for this season, catch up with our Singapore Grand Prix notebook.
Sources: Formula 1: 2005 Japanese Grand Prix race result, starting grid and fastest laps; Formula 1: why you should watch the 2005 Japanese Grand Prix; Formula 1: 2005 constructors’ standings; Formula 1: 2005 Chinese Grand Prix result; The Race; Motor Sport.
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