Kimi Raikkonen has revealed his triumph in the Malaysian Grand Prix – the second round of the 2008
Formula 1 World Championship – was every bit as straightforward as it appeared to the outside world, after barely breaking into a sweat on the post-race rostrum.
Having been thoroughly eclipsed by
Ferrari team-mate
Felipe Massa in qualifying – as he was at Sepang last year – the defending world champion quickly re-asserted his authority to show who was boss come race day, by challenging the pole-sitter at the start and very nearly edging ahead, before deeming discretion the better part of valour and sitting comfortably in the Brazilian's shadow until the pair made their first pit-stops on laps 17 and 18 respectively.
At that point Raikkonen produced a Schumacher-esque performance to blitz both his ‘in' and ‘out' laps whilst Massa laboured somewhat, and the outcome was that the Finn emerged just ahead when he exited the pit-lane a lap after his team-mate. From there he pulled steadily away and held an advantage of almost 20 seconds over runner-up
Robert Kubica at the chequered flag, admitting to only ‘a small issue on the podium' in terms of fitness at the end of a hot and humid race.
“I got a slightly better start and got alongside Felipe,” he recounted, “but in the situation I knew that we would run one lap longer, so we didn't want to risk it between team-mates in the first corner. He was pushing me a little bit on the right side, but that's racing; it was ok.
“Maybe if I had pushed harder I could have made it past, but I decided to stay behind and try my move at the pit-stop. I think that was better for everybody, and it worked out perfectly.
