By Andrew Benson
Motorsport editor |
A monosyllabic Finn in a McLaren dominated the race and, despite the enormity of the moment, was totally incapable of expressing what it meant to him afterwards.
It was almost as if Mika Hakkinen had never been away - which, of course, was what McLaren boss Ron Dennis was hoping for when he paid millions to extract Raikkonen from a Sauber contract in 2001 to replace the older Finn.
Dennis saw in Raikkonen the same blend of fire and ice that he had so admired in Hakkinen - a blinding pace allied to a breathtaking coolness under pressure.
Raikkonen's likeness to a younger Hakkinen was just one of many new beginnings obvious during the race in Sepang.
The Malaysian Grand Prix marked what everyone in F1 already knew - that Raikkonen is a super-talent well capable of taking on Michael Schumacher head-to-head and coming out on top.
The difference in 2003 is that he can show it.
The pity of Malaysia was that the battle never came to fruition because of Schumacher's error at the start of the race.
The fight between the two men would have been close indeed - certainly Ferrari technical Ross Brawn was relishing the idea of it.
McLaren have made serious progress over the winter |
"It was a bit of a messy race for us," he said, "which was a shame, because I think we would have had a super race with McLaren - they were very competitive."
No matter - the showdown will come soon enough.
McLaren have put their winter to extremely good use, totally revising the aerodynamics on their 2002 car and improving its engine to the point that the MP4-17 car is now a match for the Ferrari F2002.
Both teams have new cars waiting in the wings, and the signs are that the battle between them this season will be well worth watching.
The new rules have mixed up the grids just enough to throw some welcome uncertainty into the races - but this turnaround is as much to do with the teams as with F1 boss Max Mosley's rules.
Not only are McLaren now genuine rivals for Ferrari, but Renault are also showing signs of serious progress - and in Fernando Alonso they have a nascent talent to match Raikkonen.
Williams, too, are capable of battling for wins, or at least one of their cars is - as was clear by the lap times set by Juan Pablo Montoya after his car had been repaired following the first lap pile-up.
Schumacher has always had a propensity for making mistakes under pressure and Malaysia showed that yet again. He did the same thing there a year ago, colliding with Montoya a corner before the spot where, on Sunday, he took out the unfortunate Jarno Trulli.
Last year, though, the world champion was able to fight back up to third place, where this time he could only manage sixth.
Even without the drive-through penalty he received for causing the pile-up he would likely only have made it up to fifth.
And there, in a nutshell, you have the difference between last year and this - Ferrari have a fight on their hands.
MMIX
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