Ron Dennis emotional after Kimi Raikkonen's herculean drive in the 2005 F1 Japanese Grand Prix (Images via Getty)
Former McLaren team boss Ron Dennis once got emotional when talking about Kimi Raikkonen's exceptional drive to victory back in the 2005 F1 Japanese GP.
In 2005, Raikkonen was in a fierce title battle with Renault driver Fernando Alonso. At the time, the Finnish driver was in McLaren, and the British team was in a battle for constructors' with Renault as well. Coming to the Japanese GP, Alonso already sealed the drivers' championship in the previous race in Brazil. However, the race for the constructors title continued.
In the qualifying session in Japan, many top drivers struggled to clock a fast lap due to extremely wet track conditions. This resulted in the likes of Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso, and Kimi Raikkonen starting Sunday's race from lower grid places. The then-McLaren driver was in P17, while Alonso was in P16. It was quite clear that the Grand Prix was going to be a treat to watch since the top two drivers were down the grid.
