Kimi celebrates 'best win'.

Kimi Raikkonen has branded his victory at the Japanese Grand Prix as perhaps the best of his Formula One career, having had to fight his way from 17th on the grid.

Along with McLaren team-mate Juan Montoya, Renault's Fernando Alonso and Ferrari's Michael Schumacher, the Finn had been badly affected by the arrival of rain in qualifying, having already been hit by a ten-place engine change penalty. However, once the lights went out, he and his usually frontrunning rivals began to carve their way through the field.

While Schumacher and Alonso made it into the top eight on lap one, however, the two McLarens were mired among the backmarkers, with Raikkonen cutting the chicane and his team-mate being taken out as he tried to make the most of other people's mistakes. However, Raikkonen later revealed that the two silver machines could have come to grief earlier than the chicane...

"There was quite a lot happening in the first and second corner and, as I was turning into the second corner, Montoya touched me on the rear wheel and I got sideways," the Finn explained, "He got past me but, luckily enough, we didn't damage our cars, so it was alright. The first lap was quite exciting, as I ran wide in the chicane and then, unfortunately for him, something happened and he went off."

Raikkonen, who was beaten to the drivers' title in Brazil two weeks ago, also found that his chosen set-up was not quite right for the dry conditions, after most of practice and qualifying had taken place in wet conditions.

"We had a slight problem with the gearing and seventh gear was a little bit too short," he said, " Every now and then, when I got really close [to the car in front], I started to hit the rev limiter, so it was very difficult to get past people. But the car started to get better and better all the time and we were able to catch up in the later part of the race.

"There was quite a lot happening during the race. There was traffic and I was not really able to run at my own speed, in clean air, until the end. Michael made a little mistake and I was quicker than him on the main straight, but I was hitting the limiter. After the pit-stop, I was able to get past him. It was the same with Webber and Button - I was quicker than them, but I was just closing up and not able to get a good run on them. However, I knew they were going to stop before me, so I had two laps to really push and try to gain time."

Having disposed of the cars between himself and leader Giancarlo Fisichella, Raikkonen slashed the gap between himself and the Renault, before sweeping around the outside of turn one to assume control on the final lap.

"I wasn't too far behind any more when I came out after my final stop, so I thought maybe I would have a chance to catch him and try to overtake," the Finn confirmed, "Going on to the last lap, I was able to get him on the main straight, but then I started to hit the rev limiter again. However, I just went as quickly as I could and, luckily, I made it through.

"I just wanted to get past him. I was thinking about which way I should go although, of course, it is easier to overtake on the inside. But Fisichella went to the inside, so I didn't have much choice but to go around the outside and try to go around him."

It was the overtaking that made the race all the more special for Raikkonen.

"It was exciting, and it is always nice when you can fight like this," he admitted, "Of course, it was much more difficult than any other of my wins but, in one way, it is much nicer when you have to fight for it, so it is definitely one of the best ones.

"It was great to win, with all the problems in practice with the engine, then the ten-place penalty and all the problems in qualifying with the weather. And, of course, now we have a perfect place for qualifying in the last race."

With Montoya retiring on lap one, McLaren heads into the final round of the season trailing Renault by two points in the constructors' championship, but Raikkonen insists that the Woking team still has a chance of glory.

"It is going to be a nice race for both teams, I think," he said, "Last year, our car was pretty quick there, and I quite like the circuit, so, for sure, we will try to win the race - and, hopefully, we can win the championship too. We just need to do the best we can and we will see at the end of the race what happens."