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"Finally," said Kimi Raikkonen after ending a run of 111 starts without a victory by winning the United States Grand Prix. He prefaced that word with a much stronger one, revealing frustration over his long drought that matched the feelings of those underwhelmed by his inability in recent years to string together race-winning performances when he had the pace and opportunity to do so.
But at Austin, Raikkonen drove faultlessly and unexpectedly stole the thunder of Lewis Hamilton, whose coronation as a five-time champion was delayed for at least one more week. Raikkonen held a decent, but not dominant, hand at the start of the race that he had to play to perfection in the critical moments to come out on top. This was a race many drivers might have won and not only Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, who flashed across the line in the Ferrari's wake.
But this is Raikkonen, a driver with a habit of falling short in at least one critical moment on a race weekend. To win this race, he needed to roll back the years and nail it in every moment - not just most of them.
