Top Ten Formula One Races of the Decade – Part I
10. 2003 Japanese Grand Prix
Suzuka was the final venue of the 16 races in 2003 season. Before the race, Michael Schumacher headed the championship with 92 points followed by Raikkonen at 83 and Montoya at 82 points. A season that Schumacher could have seen him win with ease unfolded into a lot of drama in the final showdown in Japan. Montoya qualified for the second position behind Ferrari’s Barrichello while Raikkonen and Schumacher could only manage the 8th and 14th places on the grid respectively. While Schumacher looked nowhere near securing any points, Montoya posed a huge threat upfront. However, Montoya’s race ran only 9 laps long as he had to retire following a hydraulics problem and it was Raikkonen who came up with the goods. The Finn proved to be strong and after a stellar performance, finished at the second position and taking his total tally to 91 points. Schumacher managed to gain just 6 positions to end his race at the 8th place. Schumacher won the championship by 2 points which was only a matter of two track positions on the day.
9. 2003 United States Grand Prix
Michael Schumacher’s performance at the second last race of the same season at Indianapolis Motor Speedway proved to be the difference between him and Raikkonen. The German at 82 points qualified in the seventh pole while Raikkonen took the pole position, trailing Schumacher by only 7 points. While the McLaren driver hoped to go into the championship lead after the race, Schumacher stunned him by claiming his sixth victory of the season and pushed Raikkonen to the second step of the podium. The result gave a boost to Schumacher’s championship which he eventually won for the sixth time in his career.
8. 2007 Chinese Grand Prix
The 2007 race at Shanghai badly dented Hamilton’s championship run and put his rivals well within sights of glory before the final race in Brazil. Hamilton started the race from pole and 12 points clear of his nearest rival and teammate Fernando Alonso. Moreover, the racer was 17 points ahead of Raikkonen in the third. The Brit needed to finish at the fifth spot to grab the title. He was in second place at the midpoint and was en route to claiming the drivers’ championship in his very first season. When he approached his scheduled pit stop, McLaren told him to stay out for a little longer. Eventually, when he entered the pit lane with his tyres badly worn down, he failed to turn his car through the left hander and put his car in the gravel. Raikkonen won the race and Alonso finished second and into the touching distance of Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton’s first retirement of the career took the championship to the last round of the season.
7. 2006 Chinese Grand Prix
2006 season was the dual between Renault’s Alonso and Scuderia’s Michael Schumacher. With three races to go in the season, Alonso with 108 points led the championship from Schumacher by 2 points. Alonso looked the better bet for the season after he qualified on the pole where Schumacher’s best effort earned him the 6th place on the grid. In wet conditions, which favoured Michelin, Alonso opened up a huge gap between himself and his teammate in the second place. Meanwhile Schumacher worked his way up to the fourth position by lap 14 and later gained another position when Raikkonen retired from second spot after overtaking Fisichella. As the conditions dried, Alonso began having trouble and his tyre choice after the pit stop made matters worse. His second stop proved a total disaster when a wheel nut problem took 19 seconds stationary in the pits and Alonso emerged at the 4th place. Schumacher soon caught and overtook Fisichella and led the race. Alonso, who earned the fastest lap time, started catching up with Schumacher but he eventually ran out of time and finished 3 seconds off Ferrari. The race took both Alonso and Schumacher to 116 points each with two races to go.
6. 2006 Japanese Grand Prix
The Alonso-Schumacher contest moved into the next round to Suzuka with nothing to choose between the two. Schumacher outpaced Alonso in the qualifying and grabbed the front row against Alonso’s 5th position on the grid. Schumacher looked strong in the race to achieve the undisputed lead in the championship but on lap 37, he had his first engine failure in over 6 years. Alonso’s race victory gave Schumacher’s title hopes another blow who went clear of the German by 10 points and eventually won the crown in Brazil.
To be continued
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