2005 MONACO GP

MONTE CARLO MCLAREN MP4-20 (1st)

Many of Raikkonen’s 2005 performances could have made this list. Thanks to grid penalties, there were several burns from the stern, including a charge from 13th to second in the French Grand

Prix. There were also dominant drives, some of which got the result they deserved, such as the

Spanish GP victory (nearly half a minute clear of the field), and some that didn’t, including the German GP (hydraulics failure while leading).

But it’s his peerless performance at Monaco, Raikkonen’s only win on the legendary street track that provides such a test for a driver’s precision and concentration, that makes our top 10.

A stunning qualifying effort helped set up the success. In the first low-fuel runs Raikkonen was 0.5s quicker than second-placed Fernando Alonso and 1.2s faster than team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya. That allowed Mclaren to put more fuel in for the second run (with the grid set by combined times), with Raikkonen going second quickest for aggregate pole.

Despite a brief lock-up into Sainte Devote, Raikkonen held off Alonso at the start and began building a lead. He was 6s ahead when Christijan Albers triggered a traffic jam and safety car. Alonso pitted but Raikkonen stayed out thanks to some radio confusion.

The restart came on lap 29 of 78, and Raikkonen unleashed devastating pace. Helped by traffic slowing those behind, he built an advantage of

34.8s before making his only pitstop on lap 42.

He resumed still in the lead and put more than half a minute on the field again before backing off in the closing stages to win by ‘only’ 13.9s. That was over the Williams of Nick Heidfeld, Alonso having burned through his harder Michelin tyres in his attempts to keep up and fallen to fourth.

“A perfect weekend, mega!” said Autosport of Raikkonen’s performance.