On March 23, 2003, 20 years ago to the day, Kimi Räikkönen won his first Formula 1 Grand Prix while Fernando Alonso scored his first podium the day following a first pole position. The beginning of a new era for the premier category.
Without a doubt, Kimi Raikkonen et Fernando Alonso were the finest representatives of the new generation of Formula 1 drivers who arrived in the early 2000s. Having started in modest structures, one at Sauber and the other at Minardi, these virtuosos did not have to wait desperately to find refuge in teams capable of exploiting their talent perfectly. Thus, at the dawn of the 2003 season, Räikkönen entered his second year of collaboration with McLaren while Alonso was (already) making his comeback on the grid as a new Renault driver.
Without forgetting the sulphurous Juan Pablo Montoyathe young wolves then had a lot to do to impose themselves on the outposts, monopolized by the old timers. Michael Schumacherhaving debuted in 1991, and Rubens Barrichellowhich followed suit two years later, had crushed the previous championship thanks to the F2002, formidable machine of the Scuderia Ferrari. In this season of all records for the Prancing Horse, only two victories have eluded him, and they have come down to David Coulthard (having started in 1994) and Ralph Schumacher (having started in 1997).
The regulatory upheaval that took place in 2003 finally helped to overthrow the established order. From the first Grand Prix of the 2003 season, in Australia, victory was promised to Räikkönen, but the Finn received a drive-through for not having respected the speed limit in the pits. Montoya should then have taken advantage of it, however the Colombian made a mistake in the last laps and offered the winner’s cup to Coulthard.
It didn’t go far for Räikkönen in Melbourne, with a superb defense once morest Schumacher.
But it was only a postponement for the young wolves, back two weeks later for the Malaysian Grand Prix. During Saturday’s qualifying session at the wide Sepang circuit, Alonso, eleventh to start in a format which then required drivers to qualify on a single timed lap, set a stunning time of 1’31 ” 044 which has not been equaled by anyone.
It was quite simply the first pole position in the premier category for this driver who at the time had only completed 18 Grands Prix. Better still, a precocity record had just fallen: at 21 years, 7 months and 23 days, Alonso became the youngest driver in history to achieve the best qualifying time. Since then alone Sebastian Vettel et Charles Leclerc managed to do better.
In addition to Alonso’s performance, Renault had something to smile regarding that Saturday since Jarno Trulli, driving the other R23, completed the front row. And given the rhythm displayed by the blue and yellow machines throughout the weekend in Sepang, we were already beginning to dream of a historic Sunday in the French camp.
Fernando Alonso at Sepang in 2003.
The wolf Räikkönen comes out of the woods
But before anything else, a race had to take place. Sunday followingnoon, when Alonso was feeling feverish, Cristiano da Matta et Jacques Villeneuve both had a problem with their car and had to start from the pit lane, which left the sixth row completely empty. In seventh row, and probably disconcerted by the vacant slots, Giancarlo Fisichella made a mistake by taking the wrong side. The pilot Jordan, on the left instead of being on the right, realized his mistake while all the drivers were waiting for the start of the race and began to maneuver his Jordan on the grid. Eventually, at the cost of heavy steering wheel turns and a reverse gear, he reached his spot as best he might and the race began. Note that the same scenario on the same circuit had already happened to him two years earlier!
When the lights went out, everyone took off except Fisichella, who stalled. Alonso and Trulli were off to a good start, as was fourth-placed Coulthard, who edged up to Schumacher. The Ferrari driver tried to contain the McLaren but, in the affair, ended up crashing into the poor Trulli in the second corner. The kick-off of a real discord. Schumacher and Barrichello fell in the standings, Montoya lost his rear wing, Pizzonia his front wing… and Justin Wilson, 19th on the grid at the wheel of a reluctant Minardi, managed the feat of pointing to eighth place at the end first round!
Wilson was racing heroically, but an ill-fitting HANS wore him out and forced him to retire.
This chaotic start also smiled on Räikkönen. Only seventh on the grid, the Finn took advantage of the misadventures of the Ferrari drivers and Montoya to move up to fourth place, glued to the diffuser of Nick Heidfeld. The former Sauber driver easily erased his ex-teammate in the first kilometers and barely had time to chase Coulthard when the latter fell victim to the hazardous reliability of his MP4-17D.
With Coulthard’s retirement, the Ferrari drivers’ setback and Montoya’s crash, it was now clear that victory at the Malaysian Grand Prix would come down to 21-year-old Alonso and 23-year-old Räikkönen.
The McLaren driver pushed hard to reduce the gap from six to four seconds in the first ten laps. But the first fierce duel between these two talents was cut short. Less loaded with fuel, Alonso stopped on the 14th lap to refuel when Räikkönen was able to continue his effort until the 19th loop and, like today’s Hammer Timeattacked during these five laps to stay ahead of Alonso once his stop was made.
Leading the race and with the field clear, Räikkönen took to their heels. And for Alonso, second place was not even assured since Barrichello had found his way back to the front. His F2002 may have been a year old, but it was still far more capable than the R23. The story was finally settled on the 35th lap, with a second stop by Alonso who remained behind the Pauliste following his immobilization, on the 38th lap.
Kimi Raikkonen under the checkered flag.
In front, Räikkönen finally had his first victory, the one that had eluded him two weeks earlier in Melbourne and even the previous year, at Magny-Cours. The emotions were far too strong for Ron Dennis, in tears on the McLaren pit wall. The succession of Mika Häkkinen was there. It was with a colossal lead of 40 seconds over his closest pursuer, Barrichello, that the Finn crossed the finish line and registered his name alongside the greatest in this championship. Alonso was no exception. Admittedly, he might not fight for victory but his historic pole position was rewarded with a fine first podium, the first for Renault since its return as a full-fledged manufacturer.
And if Michael Schumacher had the last word by beating Räikkönen at the post for the world crown at the end of the season, the success of the Finn in Sepang, followed by that of Alonso at the Hungaroring a few months later, did indeed mean that the ” old” had had their day in F1.
