Kimi Raikkonen wins the inaugural Turkish GP in 2005 - on this day

In 2005, the sport of Formula 1 expanded even further to include a new race – this time in Turkey. The Turkish GP was set to be the latest in a line of new F1 races brought about by then-chief Bernie Eccelstone. There were high expectations from the track, given it was designed by Hermann Tilke. The German’s track record of designing tracks remains mixed but when his design worked, it worked well. Such was the case at Istanbul Park, where drivers were confronted with a challenging yet speedy track. In the end, the race was won by Kimi Raikkonen, then with McLaren-Mercedes.

With 16 years having passed since that race, let us look back at how the events unfolded.

The background

Fernando Alonso, then of Renault, was the favourite to win the world championship at that point. He had a significant lead over the rest of the pack, including defending world champion Michael Schumacher.

Schumacher and Ferrari were caught out by a regulation for 2005 that banned tyre changes in pit stops. The Ferraris, so used to running short sprint races on two or three stop strategies, struggled throughout the year.

Renault and Alonso’s biggest competitor that season was turning out to be McLaren and Raikkonen. The Finn was long seen as a future world championship prospect and the battle between him and Alonso heralded the coming in of a new generation.

Coming into the race weekend, both were among the favourites to take a win. But it was Raikkonen who put himself in the best position to do so, taking pole in qualifying.

Alonso started second, behind teammate Giancarlo Fisichella. Raikkonen’s teammate Juan Pablo Montoya, meanwhile, started fourth.

Kimi Raikkonen – first-time winner in Turkey

Raikkonen led the race for most of the duration, registering a fairly easy win on what was a challenging track. The biggest challenge for drivers came in Turn 8, with its unique design making it key to brake and accelerate at just the right times.

It was at that turn where arguably a key incident of the race took place. Montoya, who was in second behind Raikkoken, spun off at the turn. He managed to recover but lost a place to Alonso.

It was a key moment, not just in the context of the race but also the championship. In the end of thr race, Raikkonen was 24 points behind Alonso. But had Alonso finished third, the lead would have been 22 points.

That mattered little to Raikkonen at the time, who drove a dominant race and led every lap from start to finish.

It was a poor day for the Ferraris, with Schumacher failing to finish the race and Barrichello finishing 10th – back then only the top 8 were awarded points.

This weekend, we’re back in Turkey for the first time since 2011 ?

Here’s a flashback to the first ever race there in 2005 – when the Iceman took the win for @McLarenF1 ?#TurkishGP ?? #F1 pic.twitter.com/hoDh5JFlh6

— Formula 1 (@F1) November 11, 2020

Renault also maintained a nine-point lead in the constructors championship, with Fisichella finishing fourth.