The penultimate race of the season was the race of the season by far. Kimi Raikkonen won the Japanese Grand Prix in style as worked his way from the back of the field to the top step of the podium with some sensational driving that saw him snatch victory from Giancarlo Fisichella on the final lap. The Renault driver looked glum and rightly so on the podium as team-mate Fernando Alonso secured a brilliant third in the second R25. Renault regain the lead in the constructors' battle from McLaren Mercedes by two points.
It was drama from the outset with the safety car being deployed to collect the wreckage of Juan Pablo Montoya’s McLaren Mercedes on the first lap as his Japanese race came to a premature end after disputing race track space with Jacques Villeneuve. At that point, Kimi Raikkonen had had a solid start and ran 13th on track.
Giancarlo Fisichella made a good start to the race passing Jenson Button for second position into the first turn. The Italian picked up the lead when Ralf Schumacher dived to the Toyota pit early in the race indicating his rather odd three stop strategy. From this point on, Fisichella had the race in the bag as he effectively enjoyed a 20 second advantage over those chasing hard behind.
The final stages of the 53-lap race saw Fisichella coasting to victory but as Mark Webber and Jenson Button made their final stop of the day, Kimi Raikkonen was released from fourth position. Out front, Fisichella seemed unconcerned and exited the pits just five seconds ahead of Raikkonen following his final stop.
In what Ron Dennis described as ‘the best race of his career’ Raikkonen relentlessly hauled in Fisichella and on the penultimate lap of the race, the Italian took an overly defensive line into the final chicane allowing Raikkonen to make the pass into turn one on the final lap.
It is races like this that Formula One fans dream of - with the last lap pass, great passing early on and some stunning racing from the best drivers in the business.
Second place Fisichella will have some questions to answer as he should and certainly could have won the Japanese Grand Prix. Fernando Alonso also had a stunning run from near the back of the pack, losing ground in traffic following his second stop but executing a fine pass on Mark Webber for the final podium position just a few laps from home.
Mark Webber finished fourth in what his best race of the season by some way. The BMW Williams driver fought hard with Jenson Button for much of the race, gaining the position over the BAR Honda driver in the final round of stops thanks to some great pit work from the Williams crew.
Jenson Button started the race on the front row and will be disappointed to finish in fifth position in his 007, passed by those starting at the back and underlining how much work the BAR Honda crew have to do to be challenging the top teams in 2006.
David Coulthard drove a good race in his Red Bull Cosworth to finish in sixth position ahead of Michael Schumacher in his Ferrari. Schumacher drove hard all day, but the lack of straight-line speed in the Ferrari hurt his race chances. But it did provide some thrilling battles, most notably with Alonso who eventually made an audacious pass around the outside of the 130R.
Starting on Pole Position, Ralf Schumacher and Toyota talked up their races chances, but the reality was very different as it soon became clear that he was on a three stop strategy compared to the two of his rivals. Ralf Schumacher did what he could, but one point is little reward for the team and driver.
Christian Klien finished just out of the points in ninth position in the second Red Bull Cosworth ahead of Felipe Massa and Jacques Villeneuve for Sauber Petronas.
Rubens Barrichello’s race was effectively over at the first turn as he understeered off the circuit and clipped Takuma Sato’s BAR Honda which was making its own trip through the gravel trap. With a left rear puncture Barrichello returned to the pits and would end up 12th after a long hard race.
Takuma Sato had a real race to forget as he ran wide at the first turn and later in the race rammed into the side of Jarno Trulli’s Toyota. It remains to be seen whether the 13th place finisher will face further sanctions ahead of the final race of the season in China.
Tiago Monteiro finished 14th in his Jordan Toyota ahead of Robert Doornbos in the Minardi Cosworth. Narain Karthikeyan was 16th in the second Jordan while Christijan Albers finished two laps further back after a pit fire severely compromised his race. Antonio Pizzonia spun his BMW Williams out of action early on after a forgettable weekend for the Brazilian.
The Formula One circus packs up and heads straight to China for the final race of the season next weekend after a most amazing race today at Suzuka.