September 27th, Indianapolis (USA) – Ordinarily, Kimi Raikkonen taking pole position would come as no big surprise. He is, after all, one of the major title contenders for this year’s title. But if you watched Friday’s first qualifying session, you’d have to agree that Kimi’s turnabout performance today was nothing short of fantastic.

Only managing to clock in the 9th fastest time in yesterday’s rain drenched qualifying session, the McLaren driver dramatically turned things around for his team with a stunning 1:11.670 lap on today’s much dryer Indianapolis circuit. The result is a surprising one because Raikkonen did limited running on Friday (due to wet weather conditions) and missed half of the morning’s practise session.

“The car wasn’t very good this morning,” he revealed, “but we managed to improve it thanks to a lot of hard work from the team. We are in a good position, but we have to wait and see what happens.”

The Finn’s time displaced a nonetheless delighted Oliver Panis, who had earlier pushed his Toyota to 1:11.920 on the time sheet. “I was unlucky yesterday,” said the Frenchman, “but today has been good. Straight away I knew it had been a good lap.”

Rubens Barrichello, who came out on the track later in the afternoon, also beat Oliver Panis’ time with 1:11.794. This further relegated the Frenchman to P3, but the Ferrari driver failed to better Kimi Raikkonen’s lap. His star-studded teammate, Michael Schumacher, was less impressive however. Schumacher did his campaign for a sixth world title little favour when only managed a disappointing 1:12.194, qualifying in 7th position.

The two Williams BMW drivers, Montoya and Ralf Schumacher, qualified at 4th and 5th positions respectively. While Montoya would have much rather been in front of the pack, the Columbian acknowledges that his team’s strong position on the grid gives him reason to remain optimistic.

“We have a lot of power so we’ll be quick down the straight,” he said. But like most other drivers, Montoya agrees that Indianapolis has so far been unpredictable and that he isn’t completely sure about what tomorrow will bring. “The only thing I know is that Kimi’s performance is not a surprise,” he added, “He is always good for a surprise.”

Team Sauber PETRONAS qualified in 13th and 15th again today, the only difference being that this time they’ve swapped positions - Nick Heidfeld is in 13th and Heinz-Harald Frentzen is in 15th. However, both drivers clocked in better times than they did yesterday and seem in better spirits because of the improved performance.

“I’m happier with my lap today then I was with yesterday’s comparable conditions,” said Heidfeld. “The car felt better balanced. Unfortunately the tyres begun to grain before the end of my lap, otherwise I could have finished in front of Villeneuve (BAR Honda).” Team Principal, Peter Sauber, is hungry for points and thinks that his drivers can achieve that here in Indianapolis. “Nick is right beside Villeneuve and close behind Button on the grid, and Heinz-Harald is within striking distance of all three, so this bodes well for an exciting start,” he said.

So what can we expect from tomorrow’s race? You can bet your month’s salary that Ferrari’s strategy will be to have Barrichello attack Raikkonen early in the race. Going in front will mean that he can set the pace and allow Schumacher the chance to catch up. But both Ferrari and McLaren drivers will have to keep a keen eye on the two Williams cars not so far behind. Or perhaps Oliver Panis will have more tricks up his sleeve?

The bulk of the burden will undoubtedly be on Kimi Raikkonen’s shoulders, but the young Finn is no stranger to the pressure that comes with the job. They don’t call him the ‘Iceman’ for nothing.

The US Grand Prix is has an exciting and unpredictable grid, and Indianapolis is a very fast circuit that compels quick overtaking manoeuvres and leaves little room for mistakes. Will this be the title decider or will we have to wait for Suzuka?

Anything can happen.