They are called speculations, hypotheses, and insinuations. But now the numbers are up: for the move to Ferrari in 2007, Kimi Räikkönen would make £22 million per season. This is supported by the Sunday Mirror, relaunching a rumour that has been circulating for some time in Formula 1 and which seems plausible by the esteem that Maranello has for the McLaren driver. The English tabloid cites sources inside the Circus, according to which Jean Todt would be willing to line up Kimi Räikkönen, Fernando Alonso’s main rival in the 2005 World Championship, alongside Michael Schumacher. During the season, the Finnish driver reportedly signed a pre-contract and now - also reported by the Sunday Mirror - the parties signed a final contract. Kimi Räikkönen, 26 years old, two-time Vice World Champion, did not hide his frustration for not winning the title, despite being the fastest, due to the low reliability of his car. Ferrari refused to comment on what it calls conjecture.
"The drivers for 2006 are Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa, then we will see".
That is the official version. Too many variables still affect the future of the Maranello team. Michael Schumacher could decide to continue and in that case, he will always find a car to race with us, they say in Maranello. Another unknown factor is the performance of Felipe Massa: if he turns out to be a small prodigy, he would obviously be confirmed. But Valentino Rossi is in the pole position to join Kimi Räikkönen: the Italian driver will do other tests in winter. If he proves to be great on four wheels, it will be difficult to keep him out of Formula 1. In the meantime, the battle between the number ones of the current World Championship is over: Fernando Alonso is World Champion, followed by Kimi Räikkönen and Michael Schumacher. Victory in the Constructors' World Championship remains up for grabs. To win it, the placements of number twos will be needed, of Giancarlo Fisichella, Juan Pablo Montoya and Rubens Barrichello. On Sunday, October 9, 2005, the Circus moved to Japan, to compete in the eighteenth and penultimate Grand Prix of the longest season of Formula 1. Victories now count less: you need points, few and damned. Renault sealed the most important trophy with one of his drivers but was overtaken by McLaren-Mercedes, while Ferrari defended the third position from Toyota’s Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher. If Kimi Räikkönen and Fernando Alonso appear a certainty up front, uncertainty reigns behind them. Statistics in hand, so far the comparison between teammates is without appeal.
Let us consider Fernando Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella: in the challenge inside the family, the Spanish dominates 13 to 3 in qualifying, 13 to 2 in the races, and 12 to 3 on the fastest lap. The same goes for Kimi Räikkönen: Juan Pablo Montoya comes out crushed, 11 to 4 in qualifying, 9 to 5 in the Grands Prix, and 11 to 2 on the fastest lap. Rubens Barrichello only loses 10-6, 10-6, 11-5. This is the most reliable way to assess the qualities of a driver because it is measured between drivers with the same means. In theory: sometimes from the pits comes the order to reverse the positions; it happened in Belgium to Juan Pablo Montoya, who gave up first place to his colleague before getting involved in an accident. Moving down the rankings, the gap between Jenson Button and Takuma Satō stands out: 13-1, 11-2 and 13-0. Obviously, BAR did everything in its power to keep the Englishman, who had already recklessly signed a contract with Williams, and fire the Japanese driver, imposed by Honda, which supplies the engines to the team. Takuma Satō is one of the kindest and most likeable drivers in the Circus but on track, he has earned the easiest of nicknames: kamikaze. At Spa, Michael Schumacher was close to getting his hands on him after a collision. Rubens Barrichello will take the place of Takuma Satō in 2006: next autumn it will be interesting to update the comparison between teammates. But what makes Takuma Satō a driver who gets a lap right every now and then, and Fernando Alonso, Kimi Räikkönen and Michael Schumacher prodigies? Riccardo Ceccarelli, Toyota’s doctor and founder of Formula Medicine, a medical-sports centre for drivers, in Viareggio, explains.
"First, talent. And talent is a rare gift. Maybe one day we will discover that it is hidden in some chromosome, for now, we are happy to recognise it as an innate ability to go fast".
How much faster?
"At most, one second per lap. That’s five or six-hundredths of a second per corner. To the eye, it is an imperceptible difference: the champion is able to brake three meters later without the car breaking down, always keeping a perfect trajectory and accelerating slightly in advance".
According to the opinion of Dr Ceccarelli, who has followed hundreds of drivers and aspiring drivers in his centre, physical skills count less. It is possible to build a decent driver in the laboratory, even coming from a lower-class background: you put him through the same training as Michael Schumacher, from karting to the minor series and in the end you bring him to Formula 1, where he will be - precisely - a slower second. Of course, he will have to be a daddy’s boy, because nobody will give him a seat for his merits, contrary to what happened to the three leaders of the current standing, all of humble origins.
"Be careful. Even a driver who does a fast lap every now and then has talent, what he lacks are the other mental characteristics".
You need confidence and self-esteem, cost-effectiveness to avoid wasting mental energy while driving, the right motivations (narcissism is a serious flaw, Alonso, Räikkönen and Schumacher hate the corollary of glory that accompanies their feats), the reactivity of a feline, exasperated competitiveness, and intelligence to study the telemetry with engineers.
"We also distinguish between sponges and raincoats. The sponge is sensitive and altruistic. It is the friend, not the champion who, on the contrary, is insensitive to external stimuli, to criticism as well as to accidents".
Do you understand why they are good and grumpy? One of these champions is Kimi Räikkönen, who likes to do one thing at a time.
"I want McLaren to win the Constructors' title".
In 2006?
"I’m going to be World Champion, always with McLaren".
In 2007?
"We will see".
What about Ferrari?
"For now these are only rumours. I have been hearing them for three years".
Yes, but now that the deadlines are getting closer some voices have been raised. Two of the following conditions are needed for the deal to happen: Michael Schumacher retires, Valentino Rossi renounces the Formula 1 project, or Felipe Massa makes his debut but is not a prodigy. The Maranello team - it goes without saying - will have to guarantee a competitive car, to prove that 2005 was an unfortunate parenthesis. Messages of love have been sent. At Maranello, they called Kimi the fastest driver among the rookies. There is a joke going around: he is the ideal driver because you do have to teach him to be silent with the mass media. Räikkönen is Iceman, a man who expresses a collection of inoffensive phrases even for the most scandalous of the newspapers, a feature that the Maranello team particularly appreciates. Away from the racetracks, sometimes he lets himself go a little, but he can learn a minimum of sobriety. From Suzuka, Japan, where the penultimate Grand Prix of the season will take place on Sunday, Räikkönen does not deny these rumours. His contract will expire at the end of next season. That of the other protagonists as well. The charm of Ferraris is able to seduce even a cold Finnish heart. Speculation has recently hit Michael Schumacher. It was rumoured that the German would end his career at McLaren. He denies it in a way that admits no replies:
"Next year I will decide whether or not to continue my career, but I will have no other car than Ferrari".
Kimi Räikkönen is more uncertain about his long-term plans: the goal, for now, is to win the Japanese Grand Prix.
"There are two races to win for the Constructors' title. I will give my best to make it happen".
Then he will prepare for the rematch against Fernando Alonso:
"We don’t know what will happen in 2006 with the new rules (2400 cc 8-cylinder engines, ed). I think the car will remain good enough to allow me to win".
Already in 2003, he had finished in second place. With one difference: at that time Michael Schumacher was in the lead with a Ferrari superior to McLaren. This year, adding insult to injury, the Anglo-German team managed to put a very fast car on track, which began to work only from the Spanish Grand Prix. The defeat came in the first part of the season when Fernando Alonso put aside the advantage he needed to build a masterpiece. Suzuka is a sad and grey place to celebrate the title won two weeks earlier in Brazil. But Fernando Alonso gets over it. On Friday, October 7, 2005, he will face free practice as World Champion. The youngest World Champion in Formula 1 history says:
"It’s an amazing feeling. A dream coming true. I enjoyed and relived all the exciting moments of the season. This year I was the strongest, in 2006 there will be new situations and new challenges and we will try to win again. Life goes on, I never look back".
What have you learned from this season?
"I learned that when you have a good car and a good team you can win. It happened in my third year of Formula 1 and I could go on for another ten, following in the steps of the greats like Schumacher".
Sunday’s race?
"McLaren has 164 points, and we have 162. Fisichella and I will do everything we can to reach our goal, but the best is the individual title".
Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen agree on one point:
"2005 doesn’t mark the end of the Schumacher era. Michael is still Michael. He and Ferrari had a bad year, with an inferior car and tyres. Next year they will be back as strong as before. We’ll have one more opponent".
The German driver thanks:
"I’m glad to hear that. Unfortunately we have to understand and solve our problems first. And we haven’t managed to do that yet".
Meanwhile, for Rubens Barrichello only the races in Suzuka and Shanghai are left, then after six years together with Ferrari and Michael Schumacher, he will go to race with BAR, now only Honda. Rubinho relies on memories ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix:
"I can’t forget the victory of 2003 and the many happy moments I experienced here in Suzuka, a track that I have always loved. Just as I still remember last year’s success in China. But I don’t want to let my emotions get in the way when I’m behind the wheel of the F2005. It wouldn’t be useful, it will be better to focus on the race".
The Brazilian is always positive, but does not want to deceive anyone:
"The package we have in this championship isn’t the best we have had. This depends partly on the car, partly on the tyres and how we prepare the set-up of the circuit. Maybe we haven’t been as good as we have in the past. Or the others have done better. Surely the new regulations haven’t helped us. Unfortunately for this race, we don’t have a new tyre available and I don’t think that the Bridgestones have an advantage because this is their track. We hope we have chosen the right ones. Some say it will rain, but it will still be a lottery".
Rubens Barrichello will race for Honda after the Japanese company bought the entire British American Racing team. Another major car manufacturer, after Ferrari, Renault, Toyota and Bmw is going to be engaged in the Formula 1 World Championship. In fact, on Tuesday, October 4, 2005, Honda announced that it had decided to buy the entire shares of BAR - the team to which it currently supplies engines – which it already owns 45% of. The American Tobacco sponsor will sell its shares. From 2006 then the Japanese company will do everything on its own, chassis, aerodynamics in England, and engines in Tochigi, where the Japanese company’s Research and Development centre operates. For the time being, only Mercedes and Ford will participate in the championship by supplying engines to their client teams. This is Honda’s third adventure in Formula 1. The first was from 1964 to 1968 when they took pole position and two wins with Ginther (Mexico 1965) and Surtees (Italy 1967). After a long retirement, they returned to racing in 1983, only to leave in 1992, but they limited themselves to making engines. It was a success, with eleven world titles, six Constructors’ and five Drivers’ titles, with McLaren and Williams. It was mainly the epics of Niki Lauda, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna, followed by Nigel Mansell. Then a new stop. In 2000 the third adventure began with BAR. A relationship that was not always happy, but culminated last year with a second place in the standings. In the current season, there have been more disappointments than satisfactions, with British chassis engineers and Japanese engine manufacturers that have not gotten along too well. Probably also driven by the presence of Toyota, Honda aims very high:
"We want to win the World Championship because we have the chance".
In the coming year, they will also be able to count on some of the best drivers, Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button. So on the eve of the Japanese Grand Prix, the motor circus is ablaze with new perspectives. Among other things, Honda is willing to supply their engines to another team. The name is a thick mystery: it could be an eleventh new team (formed by Coca-Cola), Jordan that will become Midland in 2006 or even Williams, orphaned by Bmw. Japanese driver, Takuma Satō will probably race for one of them. On the eve of the Japanese Grand Prix, the only certain thing is that when the race begins Kimi Räikkönen will have been demoted by ten positions on the starting grid. For the fourth time since the beginning of the season, the Finnish driver is forced to stop during Friday’s practice due to the failure of the engine of his McLaren-Mercedes, very fast but still fragile. By replacing the engine, a penalty is triggered. Another bump in the road that could weigh in on the challenge between the British team and Renault for the victory of the Constructors' World Championship. Kimi Räikkönen, despite his congenital coldness, appears quite depressed, while Fernando Alonso dares to argue that his rival, all in all, was even lucky.
"Imagine if he had broken the engine in Brazil, now we would be ahead in the standings and maybe they wouldn’t catch us anymore, instead they are two points ahead".
There is little to say about the race in terms of predictions. It will be a challenge between McLaren-Mercedes and Renault, although the threat of bad weather is lingering. In any case, Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello are quite fast (the Turin 2006 logo appeared on the F2005), as the two Scuderia Ferrari drivers set the second and fourth time. But, as always, Michael Schumacher preached calmly:
"We don’t know how the others were arranged, we used new tyres because we knew that the rain would only come towards the end of the session. I repeat what I have said in recent days: maybe we can aim for the podium".
At the end of the season, as usual, there is also talk about the future of Formula 1. The teams are discussing a new, more spectacular format for qualifying. The idea would be to carry out an elimination-style qualifying. The slowest five in the first 15 minutes would start in the last rows of the grid, and so on for another five after half an hour. For the top ten, there would be a final shoot-out of twenty minutes, the fastest on pole and the remaining nine to follow according to the times. Tyre changes are also under discussion. Many teams would like to go back to the old regulations with stops and tyre changes of their choice. But there is firm opposition from McLaren’s Ron Dennis. With Ferrari dominating, everyone had opted for changes. Now that the Anglo-German team has become the one to beat, they would like the status quo, that is, no changes. On Saturday, October 8, 2005, at Suzuka, the kamiamè, what the Japanese call the rain of the Gods, also got in the way to complicate things in the penultimate race of the Formula 1 World Championship. The starting line-up seems revolutionised compared to previous Grands Prix, with Ralf Schumacher’s Toyota starting on pole position alongside Jenson Button’s BAR-Honda and Giancarlo Fisichella’s Renault. Due to a sudden downpour in the middle of qualifying the sides are reversed: the favourites Kimi Räikkönen, Juan Pablo Montoya, Fernando Alonso and Jarno Trulli will start from the last rows. Things went badly for Scuderia Ferrari as well, with Rubens Barrichello ninth and Michael Schumacher fourteenth. A way like any other to make the Japanese Grand Prix more spectacular and uncertain. Meanwhile, the FIA announced the regulations for 2006: one-hour qualifying, divided into three sessions (with everyone on track together in the first 15 minutes), ban on the use of the third car, allowed the change of tyres during the races, only fourteen mechanics allowed in the pits during the pit stops.
On Sunday, October 9, 2005, at the start of the Japanese Grand Prix, Ralf Schumacher got off to a good start and maintained the first potion, while Giancarlo Fisichella passed both Jenson Button and David Coulthard, moving from eighth up into sixth place. Meanwhile, Takuma Satō went off track at the first corner and passed over the gravel, after his front right tyre was hit sideways by Rubens Barrichello’s car. Both drivers continued the race, but the left rear of Rubens Barrichello’s Ferrari was damaged and the Brazilian driver was forced to pit at the end of the first lap to make repairs. Fernando Alonso got off to a very good start and finished the first lap in seventh position, while Kimi Räikkönen made a mistake and went straight in the Casio Triangle chicane, before his teammate, Juan Pablo Montoya, crashed after attempting to overtake Jacques Villeneuve’s Sauber-Petronas. The Canadian driver forced the Colombian to put the wheels of his McLaren on the gravel, thus recording the first retirement and jeopardising his team’s ambitions of winning the Constructors' World Championship. The accident caused the safety car to enter the track. Later, on lap 10, Takuma Satō tried to pass Jarno Trulli at the chicane, but the resulting contact between the two cars forced the Italian driver to retire. Ralf Schumacher was the first driver - among the leading drivers - to return to the pits, pitting for the first of the three stops at the end of lap 13. This excluded him from the fight to win the race. In the meantime, Giancarlo Fisichella took the lead of the race.
On lap 19 Fernando Alonso completed one of the most daring overtaking manoeuvres by passing Michael Schumacher on the outside of the infamous 130R corner. Kimi Räikkönen tried to overtake the German driver on the entry of the next corner, the Casio Triangle, but the Ferrari driver resisted the attack and the Finn was forced to wait for a better moment. Fernando Alonso then pitted for refuelling. The Spanish driver rejoined the track behind Michael Schumacher and Kimi Räikkönen. On lap 29, Kimi Räikkönen passed Michael Schumacher on the pit straight. Three laps later, the German driver missed the braking point at the chicane and that gave Fernando Alonso the opportunity to overtake him again. This time, the Renault driver made the overtake on the pit straight. Kimi Räikkönen made his last stop on lap 45, handing the lead back to Giancarlo Fisichella. But when he came out of the pits, the Finnish driver launched into a thrilling recovery. Fernando Alonso approached Mark Webber at the end of lap 49 and despite being forced onto the grass, the World Champion managed to complete the overtake on the Australian and take third place. Meanwhile, Kimi Räikkönen gained 1.3 seconds on Giancarlo Fisichella at the end of lap 49 and began to put pressure on the Italian driver. Then, the Finnish driver tried to overtake at the entry of the chicane, but the Renault driver managed to fend off the attack of his rival. However, at the exit of the chicane and on the subsequent pit straight, Kimi Räikkönen went alongside Giancarlo Fisichella’s car and passed him on the outside of the first corner, going on to win the Japanese Grand Prix. Fernando Alonso finished third, followed by Mark Webber, Jenson Button, David Coulthard, Michael Schumacher and Ralf Schumacher.
"One of my most beautiful races".
Kimi Räikkönen exclaims, for once talkative and cheerful for once, after his success in the Japanese Grand Prix. A race spent chasing, from the seventeenth place on the grid to the highest step of the podium. At the end of a spectacular show, with overtakes that had not been seen for a long time, thanks also to the almost inverted grid with the best at the bottom. The same Kimi Räikkönen performed a masterful overtake on a bewildered and disconcerting Giancarlo Fisichella on the last lap, having previously passed Michael Schumacher, who was also overtaken twice by Fernando Alonso in a show of force. It would be nice to know what Flavio Briatore said to Giancarlo Fisichella after the race. Publicly the general manager of the Renault team justifies the Italian driver:
"He couldn’t resist Räikkönen, we warned him that he was coming".
Certainly that overtake at the last lap, when the Italian driver already saw himself winning at the finish line, must have been a tremendous blow to his morale. Because perhaps it occurred to him how Fernando Alonso resisted at Imola when Michael Schumacher had unnecessarily attacked him at the end of the race:
"I did my best. A great start, immediately overtaking Button, great concentration, careful to avoid all risks. Probably if the safety car hadn’t stayed on track for several laps after Montoya’s accident, things would have gone differently, I would have accumulated a greater advantage and Kimi wouldn’t have caught me. At this point, I can be satisfied only because I brought valuable points to Renault in the standings".
Giancarlo Fisichella’s disappointment was compounded by that of Fernando Alonso, who was forced to slow down to let Christian Klien pass again, as he had overtaken him by cutting the track, but after he had already given way once to the Austrian of Red Bull Racing:
"I slowed down, losing 7-8 seconds. Without that incident I could have won. Because I was even faster than Räikkönen".
Yet the penultimate race of the Formula 1 World Championship for many protagonists has a bitter aftertaste. The Finnish McLaren driver, regrettably, equalled a negative record: he is the second driver in history to have won seven races in the same season without winning the world title. Only Alain Prost had managed to do so, twice second behind Niki Lauda and Ayrton Senna, with seven useless triumphs in 1984 and 1988. Fernando Alonso, McLaren and Renault were also disappointed. The new Spanish World Champion complained about the team strategy and for having been slowed down, in the initial stages, by the stewards. The Anglo-German team suffers for having lost the leadership of the Constructors' World Championship, and the French team for having lost another important victory. On the other hand, Scuderia Ferrari did not have any particular complaints. The Maranello team was forced to settle for the seventh place of a combative Michael Schumacher, while Rubens Barrichello was eliminated practically immediately after the start. He was the victim of an off-road collision with Takuma Satō’s BAR-Honda in a strange combination of trajectories in which Jacques Villeneuve was also involved. The Brazilian driver, who returned to the pits to replace a punctured tyre, continued the race in the rear, ending with a modest eleventh position. Jean Todt, general manager of Scuderia Ferrari, admits:
"The result corresponds to the expectations, certainly not ambitious, that we had on the eve of the race. Michael had to use all of his talent to bring the Ferrari-Bridgestone package to a points finish. Rubens’ chances were jeopardised by the crash at the first corner. Two points are not much, but we want to dedicate them to one of us, Ivan Petterlini, who tragically passed away last Sunday: in all these days away from home the team has always had a thought for him in their hearts".
Those who have seen Kimi Räikkönen and Fernando Alonso - twice - peremptorily overtake Michael Schumacher might think that the Scuderia Ferrari driver has reached the climax of his career, that point of no return that Enzo Ferrari had defined as the parable of the champion while referring to different situations. But that is not the case: the German driver, like his Finnish and Spanish rivals, also had one of his best races of the year in Japan. A remarkable start, from fourteenth place on the grid to eighth after a few hundred meters, no mistakes, reaching the maximum possible results without external intervention. When a driver finds himself behind the wheel of a car that has no grip, struggles with traction, and comes out of the corners slowly, he has no chance to defend.
It was already a half-miracle to keep McLaren and Renault behind for a few laps who were clearly faster on the straights, perhaps not only thanks to the tyres but also to perfect aerodynamics. Figures speak for themselves, as always. Michael Schumacher set the fifth fastest lap time throughout the race, 1.2 seconds behind Kimi Räikkönen’s record. But what is more relevant is that the German’s fastest lap in the entire race was the seventeenth overall. At times, especially in the second half of the race, the gap was over two seconds per lap. And you can not resist the attacks of those who have a car with such superior performance even on a track like Suzuka. So much so that on a track where overtaking is considered difficult, Kimi and Fernando passed the German on the outside of a corner. Despite everything, Toyota’s mishaps - Ralf Schumacher leading for a few laps, then sucked in for the car being too slow and Jarno Trulli hit at the beginning by Takuma Satō, then disqualified and excluded from the standings - have nevertheless allowed the Maranello team to finally conquer the third place in the Constructors' World Championship, the minimum goal to be achieved at the end of a disappointing season. In front, there are two teams, McLaren and Renault, which happen to be equipped with Michelin tyres. McLaren, thrilled by the performance of Kimi Räikkönen and the MP4/20, however, had to complain about the immediate retirement of Juan Pablo Montoya, pushed off track by Jacques Villeneuve, who was handed a 25-second penalty for the incorrect manoeuvre. The Colombian driver also had a hard time after violently hitting the barriers, on which his car crashed and was reduced to a wreck. The challenge for the Constructors' World Championship is still standing. In Shanghai, Renault will have two new engines, while McLaren will have to take the Mercedes engines used at Suzuka. And maybe Fernando Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella will finally be able to take revenge.