How Raikkonen won his first Grand Prix at Sepang in 2003

Kimi Raikkonen won the 2003 Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang from seventh on the grid, collecting the first Formula One victory of his career. Fernando Alonso had taken pole and led until he pitted on lap 14, when the lead passed to Raikkonen. Rubens Barrichello crossed the line second, 39.2 seconds back, and Alonso completed the podium.

Why was the points table so tight before Sepang?

Coulthard had won the Australian Grand Prix two weeks earlier and led the drivers' table with ten points. Montoya had eight, Raikkonen six, Michael Schumacher five and Jarno Trulli four. McLaren topped the constructors on 16 points, seven clear of Williams and ten ahead of Renault.

Michael Schumacher had given up the championship lead in Melbourne for the first time since September 2000. He argued that the competition was closer than before, and he was confident of a strong result at Sepang.

Coulthard warned against writing off Ferrari and set his sights on a podium. Montoya was less certain about Williams, saying the car might be strong or might finish tenth. Alonso stressed that Renault still needed more power before it could challenge.

Alonso took pole as the youngest driver to do so, but Raikkonen's first win came from seventh on the grid.

What was the background to the Sepang weekend?

Sepang is a 15-turn circuit of 5.543 km (3.444 miles) in Selangor. Malaysia had hosted a sanctioned race since the 1960s, first in Singapore and later at Shah Alam, before the purpose-built Sepang circuit took over in 1999 and held the race until 2017.

The 2003 event was the fifth Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix. Porsche Carrera Cup Asia, Formula Malaysia and the Formula BMW Asian Championship all ran as support races over the same weekend.

How did the Iraq conflict affect the weekend?

Fighting in Iraq had begun only four days earlier, when the American-led invasion started, and that prompted security worries at the Malaysian event. Several drivers, Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello among them, wanted the race to go ahead, and the organisers agreed.

Jamaluddin Jarjis, Malaysia's junior finance minister, said the race would take place, although war fears had kept some European visitors away. Minardi won approval for an anti-war message on its cars after Paul Stoddart put the idea to Malaysian ministers, and the FIA and Bernie Ecclestone agreed to it.

How did the teams cope with the heat at Sepang?

Heat was the persistent problem at Sepang, with high temperatures and humidity making cooling difficult. Each team picked its own approach, and the grid of ten teams used the same entry list as the season, with two drivers apiece.

Ferrari cut chimneys into its bodywork and enlarged the rear vents, while keeping the year-old F2002 chassis. Shell supplied an upgraded fuel to help the engine. Williams followed a similar path, whereas McLaren went without chimneys and relied on exhaust terminals.

Renault spent its test time on an upgraded engine and different cooling set-ups for the R23. BAR tried a revised Honda specification, and Toyota reworked the TF103's fuel system to cure the pressure fault that had affected Olivier Panis in Australia. Bridgestone and Michelin were the two tyre makers on the grid.

What happened in the Friday test session?

Teams that had limited their testing took part in a two-hour session on Friday morning. Alonso was fastest at 1:37.693, ahead of Fisichella for Jordan, Trulli for Toyota and Allan McNish, Renault's test driver.

Overnight storms had soaked the track, but the air and asphalt were warm, so the drivers started on intermediates before changing to dry tyres. Mark Webber's Jaguar drifted onto the grass under braking, and he spun into the gravel at turn 14 and returned to the pits with suspension damage.

How did Friday practice go?

Coulthard topped the opening practice session at 1:36.102, 0.129 seconds clear of Alonso. Trulli followed, with Montoya and Ralf Schumacher of Williams close behind. Button, Michael Schumacher, Villeneuve, Barrichello and Panis rounded out the leading ten.

Several cars went off. Pizzonia's Jaguar shed its front wing in the gravel, Frentzen parked at turn seven after an electrical connector failed and then used the spare Sauber, and Firman's front-left suspension gave way under braking for the 15th turn.

How did Saturday practice unfold?

The second Saturday session was run in humid, warm weather. Coulthard was quickest with 1:36.777, 0.421 seconds up on Trulli, and Alonso, Montoya, Fisichella, Panis, Raikkonen, Pizzonia, Ralf Schumacher and Firman followed in that order.

About 25 minutes in, Michael Schumacher slid backwards into the gravel at turn 12 at 270 km/h. He broke his undertray, which Ferrari replaced, and his anti-stall device freed him to rejoin. Coulthard spun at the last corner, and Webber erred but kept his car intact.

In the last practice Raikkonen clocked 1:36.557, 0.220 seconds quicker than Coulthard. Coulthard went off twice, at turns six and seven, without damage. Justin Wilson lost a rear wheel on his first lap in the Minardi. A short warm-up then went to Raikkonen again, at 1:37.506.

How did the first qualifying session look?

Michael Schumacher was the fastest man in every sector of the opening session, with 1:34.980. Barrichello was 0.7 seconds adrift, Montoya was third despite heavy oversteer, and Raikkonen had locked up at turn one to finish fourth.

Coulthard took fifth, and Trulli, the faster Renault, sixth. Heidfeld made seventh after Sauber changed the set-up, with Frentzen eighth and Button ninth. Alonso had more oversteer than he liked in the last sector and came tenth.

Da Matta had too much oversteer and little grip in 11th, and Fisichella was 12th after tyre graining cost him time over the closing turns. Ralf Schumacher took 13th, Panis 14th, and Villeneuve dropped to 15th after a wide line at turn 14. Webber was 16th because of a fuel pick-up fault, Firman 17th with oversteer, Verstappen 18th, Wilson 19th, and Pizzonia never got a time because his car would not start.

How did Alonso take pole?

Alonso set the pole time in the second session, 1:37.044 on soft Michelins, in only his second race for Renault. At 21 years, 7 months and 23 days he became the youngest pole sitter in Formula One, beating Barrichello's 1994 Belgian record by six months.

His time also ended Michael Schumacher's run of Malaysian poles, which went back to 1999. No Spanish driver had taken pole before, and Alonso changed that. Trulli lined up second on the same tyre, 0.173 seconds adrift of his team-mate.

It was the first Renault front-row lockout since Prost and Cheever at the 1983 French Grand Prix. Schumacher's gearbox had been swapped after the warm-up, and he took third while losing time to oversteer as the track cooled.

Coulthard was unsettled by understeer in the ninth turn and the corner ahead of the back straight, and he qualified fourth and ahead of Raikkonen for the second time that season. Barrichello was fifth, having lost three-tenths to a mistake.

Heidfeld secured sixth with less fuel than Frentzen, and Raikkonen went seventh after locking his rear brakes at the hairpin. Montoya took eighth, complaining about understeer, while Button ninth had pushed too hard under braking.

Panis was tenth, Da Matta 11th in the spare Toyota after a clutch problem, and Villeneuve 12th after an error at the hairpin. Frentzen was 13th and Fisichella 14th on the harder Bridgestones. Pizzonia took 15th on a light fuel load, and Webber 16th, his first defeat by a team-mate in qualifying. Ralf Schumacher was 17th, Verstappen 18th, Wilson 19th and Firman 20th on a heavy load.

What were the conditions at the start?

The start came at 15:00 local time under partly cloudy skies, with 101,485 spectators in the stands. Rain had been forecast, although the air was 35 to 36 C and the asphalt reached 45 to 53 C, and that heat split the teams' tactics.

Barrichello was allowed to race without wearing a HANS device, because a small hernia made his Ferrari uncomfortable. FIA medical delegate Sid Watkins had backed the exemption.

Villeneuve's gearbox failed electrically, and he could not get off the grid for the formation lap. He headed for the pit lane to take the spare car, but that required stewards' approval, so his team told him to return to his own machine. Da Matta started from the pit lane in the spare Toyota.

How did Raikkonen take the win?

Raikkonen crossed the line first after 56 laps, from seventh on the grid, with Barrichello 39.2 seconds back. Alonso finished third for his first podium, after the lead had changed hands when he pitted on lap 14.

Alonso led from pole until that stop, which put Raikkonen in front. Coulthard had gone out on lap three with electrical trouble, which removed the early leader from the title picture. Raikkonen kept the advantage for most of the remaining laps.

What did the result mean for the title race?

Raikkonen moved to the head of the drivers' table with 16 points, while Coulthard dropped to second and Montoya to third. McLaren extended its constructors' lead to ten points, and Ferrari climbed from fourth into second.

Montoya scored no points in Malaysia, which left him third in the drivers' table behind both McLarens. Renault held third in the constructors' standings with 14 races still to come.

What were the final results?