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The year was 2005. Fernando Alonso had emerged out of all the young talent that was the favorite for the title. Why? Because after half a decade of dominance, Ferrari had messed up. And to make things even better for Alonso, the challenge was mediocre as well as sporadic in the early races. Toyota had a decent car but Jarno Trulli was not a driver of Alonso's caliber. McLaren was the dark horse but the car had still not unlocked its true potential.
The lead-up to the 2005 F1 Monaco GP
By the time the F1 circus reached the Monaco GP, McLaren had sorted out the issues with the car and in turn, with Kimi Raikkonen, posed a potent threat to Fernando Alonso.
The race in Monaco was the scene of a battle between the two drivers: Alonso in his Renault vs Raikkonen in his McLaren. If you want to have a good race weekend in Monaco, you need to have a strong qualifying. For the drivers, it all came down to that one lap shootout on Saturday that would more or less determine your grid position.
Kimi Raikkonen dominates Fernando Alonso in Qualifying
The stage was set for the battle of the next generation of drivers. Fernando Alonso went first and put together a scorching lap that was almost half a second quicker than what anyone had set at the time. Next up was Kimi Raikkonen. He knew what the target time was and he knew very well what he needed to do.
As soon as Raikkonen started the lap and navigated his way through St. Devout, it became clear this was going to be something special. Alonso's lap was fast, meticulous, and on the edge no doubt, but this lap from the Finn was poetry in motion. The car was literally dancing from one part of the track to the other, almost kissing the barriers, taking picture-perfect lines, and every time Raikkonen crossed a sector, he was quicker. He picked up a couple of tenths in the first sector, then another couple in the second, and then finally, in the third sector, another tenth to complete a lap that was half a second quicker that Fernando Alonso.
Some laps leave you speechless, then, some leave you content, knowing it isn't humanely possible to do more than that. That pole lap from Raikkonen was just that, poetry in motion, poetry that cannot be repeated!
What happened in the race?
The race was no different either as Fernando Alonso, despite being half a second slower than Kimi Raikkonen, started alongside him on the front row. Once the race started, it became clear that the two drivers were not in the same league whatsoever.
The Spaniard tried his hardest to keep Raikkonen in his sights. On that day, however, the Finn had flown away. In the end, Alonso ate up his rear tire as he pushed too hard and ended up falling out of contention for the podium.
Raikkonen, on the other hand, displayed one of the more dominant performances from one championship contender over the other.
