Kimi "Iceman" Raikkonen wins his 1st F1 GP race in Sepang! Yes, Wonder-boy has finally done it! Ron Dennis was seen crying tears of joy for his young driver as he crossed the finish line while Peter Sauber publicly congratulates Raikkonen... probably as the proud man who talent-spotted Raikkonen. Don't ask me why I'm so happy about this but it might have something to do with having observed his F1 career grow from the very start. *Dances in Joy!*

Come to think of it - this is a pretty amazing feat! Firstly, KR was intro-ed into the 2001 season by Sauber with only a temp. super license and a contract for a few races (try out basis) - very obviously a wild card entry. Prior to F1, he did pretty well in 2-yrs of Finnish Karting and 1-yr at Formula Renault.

At end of 2001, he was "Rookie of the Year" in favor of a very publicised Juan Pablo Montoya who had competed that year in the stronger Williams' car. And to add icing to the cake, he was offered the 2002 race seat in McLaren Mercedes in favor of Nick Heidfeld who was much rumored to be the top choice to replace 2-time World Champion, Mika Hakkinen, who was "taking a break to spend more time with his wife and newborn son".

In 2002, he showed potential of being a more competitive driver than his experienced team mate in David Coulthard... but car reliability to finish a race was something the 2002 McLarens' lack. There were countless times that his car failed while he was in contention for a top finishing... and of course there was that famous let down at the French GP, Magny-Cours.

In that now infamous scene, KR was leading by a margin of 10-secs or so when his car loss speed with just a few corners to the finish line - handing over the much coveted win to none other than Michael Schumacher. On the podium in 2nd, he was one very disappointed guy. But then of course - that's racing! Nothing is definite until you cross that darned finishing line.

Back to 2003! The McLarens returned to the 2003 season with a much improved 2002 car, in interim until they are dead sure of the 2003 car, and opened their season with a 1st (DC) and 3rd placing (KR) in the Melbourne race. Now that's a very optimistic start under a totally revamped F1 race qualifying system with new rules and totally new strategies. F1 is officially exciting again after being awfully predictable in the last 2 years. With KR's win in only the 2nd of 16 races, it could mean that McLaren is once again back on the right track to compete strongly for the constructor's championship after losing it to Ferrari since 1999 and only managed 3rd-placing behind Williams last year.

*Ahem!* So... OK! After all that swooning about a Potential Future F1 World Champion... I'll first have to say that there are basically 2 competitions in the F1. Nombre un: The Contructor's Championship... and this is subdivided into 2 sub-competitions #1a - The competition for the top 3; and... #1b - The more interesting competition for the 2nd rung, the 4th-6th positions. Nombre deux, #2: The Driver's Championship.

[Erm... can you now please shaddup and tell us who you are actually supporting-ah?]

Oh, right! With reference to the above numbered references, here we go... #1a - Williams BMW; #1b - Sauber Petronas; and for #2... I fervently root for Montoya ('coz he's got attitude and seriously not afraid to be outspoken), Raikkonen (coz he did start from Sauber) & those current Sauber dudes...

Btw, I'm also jubilant that Ralf Schumacher made if to 4th from starting 17th on the grid... and rather disappointed 'coz Montoya couldn't have a better race as a result of Antonio Pizzonia's Jaguar clipping his rear wing at the Sepang GP's opening lap; and well... the Saubers did experience lousy pit stops.

[But that's racing lar... things happen, we've seen stuff like that happen in all races with all the different teams] Yeah, that's true. *Sigh...*

Air-NeEee-waAaay... team Sauber Petronas has come a long way since Petronas invested in it... and *Omigosh!* I just realised I'm a closet patriotic Malaysian. *aH-aCks*