Kimi Raikkonen has needed only 36 Grands Prix to score his maiden Formula One victory with a flawless performance at last Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix. His team boss Ron Dennis believes now that the pressure is off the Finn's shoulders he will be a better driver ready to fight for the title. Atlas F1's Richard Barnes believes, however, that the jury is still out on wether Raikkonen is a Championship contender

David Coulthard must have suffered an acute bout of deja vu during Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix. Six years ago, the Scot took an unexpected win in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. Later in the same season, his Finnish teammate triumphed with a maiden victory, before going on to become McLaren's perennial Championship hope. Two weeks ago in Australia, Coulthard again opened his season with an unexpected win. And, just as in 1997, he's seen his Finnish teammate respond with his own maiden victory. The key difference is that it took Mika Hakkinen the full 1997 season to respond to Coulthard's success. This time, it took Kimi Raikkonen just 14 days.

The circumstances surrounding the two debut wins were entirely different, of course. Hakkinen's victory at Jerez was overshadowed by the uproar following the infamous Championship-deciding collision between Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve, to the point where Hakkinen's eventual win was almost a trivial detail for the fans and media. On top of that, Hakkinen's long-overdue triumph was also besmirched by allegations that Williams had gifted the win to Hakkinen and McLaren.

By contrast, Kimi Raikkonen's debut victory on Sunday was untarnished by suggestions of team manipulation or Championship controversy. Michael Schumacher's second-corner collision with Renault's Jarno Trulli deflected some of the media attention, as did the sterling qualifying and race performance of Trulli's teammate Fernando Alonso. But overall Raikkonen emerged with the headlines, the trophy and the credit for a deserved win.

After the race, McLaren boss Ron Dennis claimed that this would be the single event to 'uncork' Raikkonen and propel him from promising young star into regular winner and genuine Championship contender, just as Hakkinen's maiden win had given him the confidence to finally realise his true potential in 1998. While there's no doubt about Raikkonen's star credentials, the outpourings of optimism are premature.

Raikkonen ostensibly has it all: a top drive, a maiden win in only his 36th Grand Prix and, at the age of just 23, the bulk of his F1 career still ahead of him. By contrast, Mika Hakkinen's debut win came at the age of 29, and in his seventh season in the formula. Yet there are signs that the young Finn will struggle to enforce his emerging authority in the way that his illustrious fellow countryman did in 1998.

After the unburdening relief of finally securing his debut win, Hakkinen enjoyed a half-season of virtually uninterrupted mechanical superiority. The powerful Mercedes-Ilmor engine, Adrian Newey's MP4-13 chassis and Bridgestone's superior grooved tyres combined to make the early-1998 McLaren unstoppable on most occasions. That, in turn, left the Finn with only his teammate Coulthard as regular legitimate competition.

The Scot, ever the gentleman racer, proved helpful in handing Hakkinen his second successive win at the season opener in Australia, pulling over to sacrifice certain victory to honour a pre-race driver agreement. After six Grands Prix, Hakkinen had built up a 22 point lead over main Championship rival Michael Schumacher. During this purple patch, he also scored four of his career total twenty GP victories.

It was an opportunity that Raikkonen will not be given. Despite winning the first two races of this season, McLaren are under no illusions that they hold a mechanical edge over rivals Ferrari and Williams. Race circumstances have conspired to favour McLaren, and their good fortune will not hold indefinitely. The 2003 McLaren, due to debut shortly after the F1 circus moves to Europe, should prove to be even more competitive than the revised 2002 car. Yet it's unlikely to outstrip the 2003 Ferrari, which should see its first race action even earlier.

The arrival of the 2003 McLaren could also sway matters David Coulthard's way. The Scot is notoriously sensitive to car balance. When he has the car working to his liking, he can race against anybody. Without confidence in the car, he can look very ordinary indeed. In the MP4-17, he often looked unsettled. If the new design is balanced more to his liking, Coulthard could well wrest the initiative away from his younger teammate and re-establish his claims as McLaren's leading hope.

Raikkonen's race performances and results have also disguised his obvious unease with the new qualifying format. Below-par qualifying performances at the first two races were remedied by an inspired tactical decision to switch to dry tyres in Australia, and the opening lap shunt that removed Michael Schumacher, Juan Pablo Montoya and Jarno Trulli from the fray in Malaysia. Circumstances will not always play into Raikkonen's hands, and he'll pay the price for a poor qualifying performance on the twisty circuits of Monaco or Hungaroring. There is hope for Raikkonen that FIA chief Max Mosley may choose to side with Bernie Ecclestone and ditch the new qualifying format later in the year. Although, as long as the new format is perceived to create exciting races (however mistaken that perception may be), Mosley will be loath to discard it.

The re-banning of certain electronic driver aids like launch control and traction control, to be implemented from the British Grand Prix in July, is yet another variable at a time when Raikkonen would prefer consolidation rather than change. The young Finn has spent the vast majority of his F1 cockpit time in cars fitted with electronic driver aids; his more experienced rivals - like the Schumacher brothers, Coulthard and Rubens Barrichello - have extensive experience with both manual and electronic systems. In 1998, Mika Hakkinen also had to cope with technical regulation changes in the form of the new grooved tyres. That proved no disadvantage, though, as the grooved tyres were new to everyone in the field. Raikkonen will not be unduly troubled by the return to manual systems, but it's yet another test of his versatility, and his ability to cope with increasingly steep expectations. It's hard to believe that, at this point of the season two years ago, the young Finn was still serving a probation period to determine whether he truly merited his F1 licence. Now he finds himself atop the WDC standings, and by a healthy six point margin. Then, he was merely asked to cope. Now, he is expected to challenge always and to start winning regularly. The world's sudden high expectations are an accurate reflection of just how measured, confident, competitive and professional Raikkonen has appeared, right from his Sauber debut.

Like Michael Schumacher before him, Raikkonen has also made his F1 entrance at an opportune time. During his F1 learning phase, Schumacher benefited greatly from being able to observe and compete against the outgoing talents of Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet. Likewise, Raikkonen will learn much from Schumacher and teammate Coulthard before they exit the world F1 stage.

Even better for F1 fans, Raikkonen looks set for stiff competition in the foreseeable future. During Schumacher's reign, only Mika Hakkinen emerged as a consistent rival for the title of the world's best driver. At the very least, Raikkonen will have the established Juan Pablo Montoya and the precocious talent of Spain's Fernando Alonso to goad him further. After the dire predictability of the last two seasons, Formula One is suddenly alive again with new possibilities and emerging talents. Let's hope it's not a false dawn.