When Kimi Raikkonen won a chaotic Canadian GP - that saw 9 retirements

The Canadian Grand Prix is an always-eventful part of the Formula 1 calendar. The Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Quebec, Canada is renowned for being high-speed and also for the famed ‘Wall of Champions’, the wall on the outside of the exit of the final chicane before the start/finish straight. As such, races over there tend to be high risk and reward in nature. Never was this more evident than in the 2005 Canadian GP. McLaren-Mercedes driver Kimi Raikkonen won a race that was at best frenetic and at worst chaotic. Amazingly, the race saw nearly half the participants retire.

With 16 years having passed since then, let us look back at the 2005 Canadian GP.

The background

Amazingly, Kimi Raikkonen didn’t start the race on pole but in seventh place. Pole position went to Jenson Button of BAR-Honda.

Defending world champion Michael Schumacher was second, with the Renault’s of Giancarlo Fisichella and Fernando Alonso third and fourth, respectively.

Raikkonen started alongside hometown hero Jacques Villeneuve, the son of Gilles and 1997 world champion. Yet the nature of the race saw most of the main contenders fall short.

The race

The race began with both Button and Schumacher making slow starts. Thus, the Renaults of Fisichella and Alonso overtook them by the second corner itself.

To add insult to injury, the McLarens of Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya also passed Schumacher. His Ferrari teammate Rubens Barichello, starting from the pits, fared better at the start.

By lap 8, Barichello was into 15th and looked likely to gain more ground. Up front, Fisichella was extending his lead at a good pace. Indeed, both him and Alonso pulled away from the pack.

As a result, Schumacher pitted early and his entry into the pits saw many others follow suit. Yet the main focus stayed on the two Renaults.

Alonso looked likely to pass his elder teammate and eventually did on the 33rd lap. Yet it was evident that Fisichella had issues with his car.

On the end of the lap, he pulled into the pits and retired with hydraulic pressure issues. Amazingly, despite having a win in the bag if he kept up his pace, Alonso too had to retire.

This was because he crashed into the wall on Turn 4 and damaged his suspension. As a result, McLaren’s Montoya was now in the lead.

Yet the race only got more interesting as it went on.

Kimi Raikkonen for the win

Raikkonen, under no team orders from McLaren, raced his teammate and reduced the gap between them to 3 seconds by lap 49. The third and fourth place battle between Schumacher and Button, however, saw a new addition to the wall of champions.

Button slammed into the wall and thus retired, handing third place to Schumacher at that point. Afterwards, Button blamed debris on his tyres for the crash.

“The problem I had in the hairpin was I ran wide and I didn’t realise how much rubbish got on the tyres because coming into the chicane I just had huge understeer,” Button said after the race.

“That was it really. I should have gone across the green stuff but I thought if I did that I would have to let Michael pass and I didn’t want to do that. I’d rather crash in third than finish fourth really.”

Button’s retirement brought out the safety car and it was this that caused another incident.

The arrival of the safety car saw most drivers pit to refuel. Montoya stayed out for a lap more since Raikkonen was called in first. Montoya entered but, upon exiting the pits, didn’t spot a red light. Thus he was disqualified.

❌ Fisichella
❌ Alonso
❌ Montoya
✅ Raikkonen

Running in first place was cursed in Montreal in 2005… ?#CanadianGP ?? #F1 pic.twitter.com/DfQGRIEFaG

— Formula 1 (@F1) June 6, 2019

The race now came down to Raikkonen and Schumacher. The Ferrari driver and defending world champion looked to be in the ascendency as Raikkonen struggled with a misaligned steering wheel.

Behind them, Barichello battled Toyota’s Jarno Trulli for the final podium spot. It was the Italian who held the spot but he had trouble with his brakes. Inevitably, he was forced to retire.

Barichello was now third but still some distance away and that was how the race ended. Raikkonen finished just a second ahead of Schumacher, with Barichello more than 30 seconds away.

The aftermath

The win saw Raikkonen reduce the gap between him and Alonso in the world driver’s championship standings. As a result, Kimi was now in second place in the standings.

Ferrari, who were having a poor year till that point, got 14 valuable points thanks to Schumacher and Barichello both finishing on the podium.

Schumacher, however, was only fifth in the driver’s standings at that point – the same position Ferrari were in the constructor’s standings.