USA GP 2018 flashback: When Kimi Raikkonen Bossed The US Grand Prix

Former world champion Kimi Raikkonen is a great of the sport and lest we forget, still the last man to win a driver’s world title with Ferrari, circa 2007.

The man who notorious for being shy and monosyllabic outside the car could sure race when in it. Over the course of a checkered career, Raikkonen has enjoyed a global fanbase and sported an aura unlike few others across Formula 1’s checkered history.

As the man from Espoo, Finland turns 46 today, and with the Texas-bound USA Grand Prix fast approaching, there couldn’t be a better time to recount a Kimi special. 

The Iceman’s last F1 victory, the 21st of his career took place at Texas, seven years back in the day. It was an event that did certainly humble Kimi’s critics who had long discounted him, arguably snubbing him from the very moment the Iceman marked a return to the sport back in 2012. But one could argue what may have fuelled his critics’ doubts about Raikkonen’s form was the very fact that it took the enigmatic Finn 114 races since his 2012 Abu Dhabi triumph to win another F1 Grand Prix.

But the 2018 USA win was special for the simplest of reasons that not only did Kimi win for the first time in six long years, his 25 points at America did certainly help him to finish third in that year’s world driver championship. 

That being told, what happened at the 2018 USA GP and how did Kimi achieve a win where he wasn’t even on pole? 

Getting track position despite no pole

Right at the start, not long after the five red lights turned green, Kimi Raikkonen demonstrated an excellently timed move on pole sitter, Lewis Hamilton to capture the lead from the Mercedes driver. By the time the battling duo filed through the first corner utterly unscathed, Raikkonen whisked past Hamilton going down on the inside to capture the lead over the dominant Mercedes driver a breathtaking fashion. 

From that point on Kimi Raikkonen would open a gap that would exceed over 1.5 seconds. 

As the race wore on and the pit shuffle played out in the midfield, the battling order at the front stayed unchanged. The harder Hamilton pushed through the high downforce track, Raikkonen kept his cool to dictate the race order from the very front. 

A fast paced action packed Grand Prix 

By halfway stage, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen began increasing pressure on Lewis Hamilton from third with Raikkonen comfortably ahead. 

A lot, however, had taken place further down the order ensuring the Ferrari v Mercedes fight wasn’t the only interesting duel. 

Vettel, who began from the second row, had spun around and lost several positions for him to mount a formidable attack over the Kimi versus Lewis fight. 

Meanwhile, by lap 9 Daniel Ricciardo pulled over just off the exit of turn 11 owing to a mechanical issue in his car. 

But the focus for the race for the next several laps remained between Hamilton’s arguably faster Mercedes not being able to breach past Kimi Raikkonen’s staunch defence out in front. 

Dictating pace under pressure 

Then on lap 12, Raikkonen displayed a tactical masterclass, perhaps one of the finest moves of his 2018 season, albeit a hugely underrated one that he sold Hamilton a dolly in pretending to pit first with Lewis just behind.

While Lewis did actually pit and followed the instructions that were to box opposite Raikkonen, the Ferrari driver stayed out for a longer stint and managed his tyres excellently. 

In the closing stages of the 56-lap contest, Kimi still looked formidable. 

A race driven with precision and pace Raikkonen, who pitted just once, mainted the race lead while his closest on-track rival Hamilton came too close for his own comfort to a fast catching and very resilient Max Verstappen in the battle for third. 

In the end, Raikkonen kept his cool and benefitted from the rip roaring Verstappen versus Hamilton duel to clinch the 21st win of his career. 

Reborn in the USA like a boss 

He would, in the process of taking the checkered flag for the first time in 114 races, earn one of David Croft’s most sought after analogies having Bossed the USA Grand Prix. 

Seven years back in the day on October 21, 2018, the cult of Kimi stood aloft with a new sheen. He was, as ‘Crofty’ exclaimed – “Reborn in the USA”! 

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