Formula One can be incredibly cruel sometimes. A driver can put in a phenomenal performance throughout a season and miss out on a title by the smallest of margins. Here is a look at the top three Formula One runners-up since the turn of the century.
3. Kimi Raikkonen – 2003
The Iceman is number three in my list of runners up as his amazing consistency throughout the 2003 season saw him miss out on the driver’s title by just three points.
The first race of the year in Melbourne underlined his talent and championship intentions as he had a poor qualifying run on Saturday to line up 15th. On lap one he dived into the pits to take on fuel and dry tyres – a bold strategy as the track was still damp. This catapulted him through the field and allowed him to fight with Michael Schumacher for the lead, until speeding in the pit lane landed him a drive through penalty. Despite the penalty he finished in third place behind his team mate David Coulthard in first and Juan Pablo Montoya.
Round two was the scene of Raikkonen’s maiden win in Formula One, after starting seventh, when everyone else pitted the Finn pulled out a massive gap to second placed Rubens Barrichello and maintained it at around half a minute until the chequered flag. The Brazilian Grand Prix provided a controversial finish to a hectic race when Kimi was awarded the winner’s trophy on the podium only to give it to Giancarlo Fisichella at the next race at Imola after an FIA investigation.
Another second place at Imola made it four podiums in a row for Raikkonen. This was followed by an unfortunate start line crash at Catalunya with Antônio Pizzonia. This setback made little difference in the next two races as the Finn racks up two second places in Austria and Monaco. Yet another qualifying disaster meant the McLaren driver started from the pit lane in Montreal, but that did nothing but spur him on to cross the line in sixth place.
Kimi secured a career first pole position at the Nurburgring and totally dominated the race until his engine gave out handing the win to Ralf Schumacher. A fourth at Magny-Cours and a third at Silverstone got Raikkonen’s championship back on track before he suffered yet another catastrophic setback at Hockenhiem, he collided with Rubens and Ralf into turn one ending all of their races.
Consistency proved once again to be key to the Finn’s success as he achieved four top four finishes in the final rounds of the championship. Second behind a dominant Fernando Alonso at Hungary, fourth at Monza, and a second at Indianapolis in changeable conditions left Kimi nine points behind Michael heading into the final round of 2003.
The old points system meant that Raikkonen would have to win the race and Schumacher would have to finish outside of the points for the Finn to be champion. It all went Kimi’s way on Saturday as difficult conditions in qualifying meant Michael started 14th. A collision with Takuma Sato during the race meant a lengthy pit stop for the German, but he fought back to score a single point denying Raikkonen the championship when he finished in second.
2. Fernando Alonso – 2012
The showdown between two double world champions makes number two on my list as Fernando Alonso drove the wheels off his Ferrari.
The double world champion’s season got off to a poor start when he qualified 12th at Melbourne. Despite salvaging a fifth place in the race, it showed that he had to drive beyond the car’s capabilities to fight for this championship as the Spaniard so often has.
Another disappointing qualifying awaited Fernando at Malaysia – eighth place is the best he could manage. Changeable conditions in the race flattered the Ferrari’s pace, this allowed him to battle with Sergio Perez for the win, Alonso eventually took the chequered flag and the all-important 25 points.
Poor form continued for Fernando as he qualified ninth in the next two races at China and Bahrain, then finished ninth and seventh respectively. He returned to form when it mattered – in front of his home fans at Catalunya. A race long battle with Pastor Maldonado was great to watch but eventually the win went to the Venezuelan.
This began an amazing run of consistency finishing in the top five in the next seven races. Starting from fifth at Monaco, he did well to make a place up at the start and pass Lewis Hamilton in the pit stops to get a podium finish. Ferrari brought updates to the Canadian Grand Prix which allowed Alonso to qualify third, but he fell back during the race to fifth.
Fernando’s second home race of the season at Valencia didn’t start the way he hoped qualifying 11th on the grid. He used the safety car and an extra set of soft tyres to his advantage to move up to second, then, when Sebastian Vettel’s alternator overheated he took the lead and the win. Then came a second place at Silverstone and a win at Hockenhiem. This would be his last win of the season but by no means his last podium. A fifth at the Hungaroring would be the Spaniards last non podium finish of the year.
The spectacular crash at Spa caused by Romain Grosjean took Alonso out before he made it to turn one. After a memorable battle with Vettel he took third and a podium in front of the Tifosi at Monza, followed by another third place under the lights at Singapore. Another first corner incident took the double world champion out of the race at Suzuka.
Fernando did all he could in the next four races taking as many podiums at Korea, India, Abu Dhabi and America. This meant Vettel and Alonso were separated by just 13 points before the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Saturday didn’t go to plan for the Spaniard as he qualified in seventh while his German rival lined up fourth. It all looked to be falling into place when Vettel collided with Bruno Senna on lap one, was unable to communicate with his team by radio and had a delayed pit stop. But a great recovery drive saw Sebastian finish sixth while Fernando was second, meaning he lost the championship by three points. A valiant effort considering the true pace of the 2012 Ferrari.
1. Felipe Massa – 2008
Where and how he lost the championship is why I chose the Brazilian as my number one runner up. An extraordinary set of circumstances led to the dramatic conclusion of the 2008 title.
Massa lined up fourth on the grid for the season opener at Melbourne, in the race however, he spun at the first corner, collided with David Coulthard and eventually retired thanks to an engine problem. The second race at Malaysia saw the Ferraris lock out the front row headed my Felipe. But another disappointing race day awaited, he lost the rear and spun into the gravel while chasing his team mate who eventually took the race win.
The Brazilian finally kicked off his title campaign in Bahrain with a commanding win from second on the grid. He followed Kimi Raikkonen to their second 1-2 finish in succession at Catalunya, then took his third Turkish Grand Prix lights to flag victory in a row; he was back in the hunt for the title. A consistent showing at Monaco saw Felipe take the bottom step on the podium, a problem with refuelling meant he could only manage fifth at the Canadian Grand Prix after a fantastic double overtake at the hairpin.
A broken exhaust for Raikkonen gifted Massa a victory at Magny-Cours. Then a dismal race at Silverstone in changeable conditions meant he could only finish 13th. Hockenhiem was next where the Ferrari driver had a consistent weekend qualifying second and taking third in the race. At the Hungaroring, Felipe was dominating the rest of the field until an engine blowout ended his race. He carried the pace he had in Hungary to the next two races taking the hat-rick at Valencia and eventually winning at Spa after championship rival – Lewis Hamilton’s – time penalty.
A mediocre run awaited the Brazilian at the next three races. He struggled in the rain at Monza and could only manage sixth, a problem with the fuel rig at Singapore meant he finished just 13th after taking the first ever pole position at night. The Mount Fuji race saw Massa finish seventh after a collision with Sebastian Bourdais and with Hamilton. At Shanghai the Ferrari driver followed a dominant McLaren of Hamilton across the line meaning the two rivals were separated by just seven points as they arrived at Interlagos.
Felipe took pole position at his home track while Lewis started fourth. Rain fell before the start of the race meaning a delayed start and a switch to wets. After the first round of pit stops and a change back to dry tyres the home favourite led while his rival languished in seventh. Hamilton overtook Jarno Trulli and then Giancarlo Fisichella to move back into contention. Another shower arrived with five laps to go forcing the battling Sebastian Vettel and Lewis in for wet tyres. The German got past and up into fifth meaning Massa would be champion, but Timo Glock was still on dry tyres and struggling. Massa was world champion for about half a minute until Hamilton took fifth place back on the last corner crowning him the champion by one point.
An iconic image of an emotional Brazilian on his home podium after having the championship snatched from him makes Felipe Massa my number one runner up of the 2000s.
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