Indy Lall, a legendary McLaren mechanic, has opened up about the biggest championship that slipped through the team's fingers. He reckons Kimi Raikkonen was the driver who should have delivered a title for McLaren but never managed it. The Finnish driver joined the Woking team in 2002 and came agonizingly close twice, finishing second to Michael Schumacher in 2003 and then losing out to Fernando Alonso by 21 points in 2005. Despite nine wins in papaya, Raikkonen's McLaren dream never culminated in that elusive world championship.

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What made Raikkonen's situation particularly frustrating was the untapped potential. Lall explains that the driver had incredible natural talent and intelligence, soaking up information before stripping away the noise to focus on what mattered. When Raikkonen first arrived at McLaren alongside David Coulthard, he struggled to find his feet. But once the team identified that he needed a completely different front suspension setup, everything clicked. It was like flipping a switch, Lall recalls. The problem was developing two different cars for two different drivers diluted the team's focus and resources.

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Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya as teammates created headaches because their vastly different driving styles meant the car had to be developed in two directions simultaneously. It was messy, logistically and developmentally. After years of reliability issues and failed title bids, Raikkonen departed for Ferrari in 2007. The move proved decisive. At Maranello, he immediately claimed the championship that eluded him at McLaren, beating out Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. He remains the last Ferrari driver to win the title.

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Adding salt to the wound, Raikkonen was reportedly irritated when McLaren began pursuing Lewis Hamilton around the same time, screening his GP2 races before bringing him in for 2007. Hamilton would go on to deliver McLaren their first drivers' championship since Mika Hakkinen in 1999, winning in his debut season in 2008. Lall's reflection on Raikkonen highlights a what-if moment that still stings. This was a generational talent who had everything needed to win with McLaren but instead, circumstances conspired against them. Lando Norris would finally bring another title home to McLaren in 2025, but that's a long time to wait for redemption.

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