On this page you can get acquainted with the biography of one of the most unusual and wayward pilots of our time, Finn Kimi Raikkonen. It is his short biography.
Full name: Kimi-Mathias Raikkonen
Nickname: Iceman, Yeti
Place of Birth: Espoo, Finland
Height: 1.75 m
Weight: 62 kg
Family status: not married, 
Number in Formula 1: 7
Race Engineer: David Greenwood
World Championship titles in Formula 1 – 1 (2007)
F1 career podiums: 79 (20.09.2015)
Career points: 1131 (20.09.2015)
Participant– 226 grand prix (09.20.2015)
Highest finishing position in Formula 1– 1 (20 times) (09.20.2015)
Highest starting position in Formula 1– 1 (16 times) (09.20.2015)
Previous commands: Continental Racing Van Diemen (Formula Ford); Manor Motorsport (Formula Renault 2000); Sauber, McLaren, Ferrari (Formula 1); Tommi Makinen Racing, Citroen Junior Team, Ice 1 Racing, Vision Aviation Racing (World Rally Championship), NEMCO Motorsports (NASCAR); Lotus F1 (Formula 1).
Brief biography of Kimi Raikkonen
Nicknamed "Yeti", "Iceman", due to his cold and unflappable nature. Kimi Raikkonen's talent was discovered at an early age. He made his karting debut at the age of ten. Rising to the top level of Formula 1 from the very bottom, he went through: Formula Ford, Formula Super A and Formula Renault. The culmination of the junior championships was victory in seven out of ten races in Formula Renault, the British Championship and, as a result, the championship title.
His form was enough for the Sauber team to invite him as a test driver in September 2000. And in 2001, he already became the main pilot of the team, with only 23 racing stages under his belt. But this did not in any way affect his debut in Formula 1 at the Melbourne circuit, where Kimi arrived sixth, thereby earning his first points. Having won nine points in his debut season, he opened his way to McLaren, taking the place of ex-world champion and just a great guy Mika Hakkinen. Despite technical problems he finished the championship in tenth position, enjoying a sixth place at the Australian Grand Prix.
Raikkonen's first victory came in 2003 at the Malaysian Grand Prix, where he was able to beat Rubens Barrichello by a respectable 39 seconds, despite qualifying in seventh starting position. Having reached the podium ten times throughout the season, he finished second in the championship, losing only two points to Michael Schumacher, who became world champion for the sixth time.
2004 was not a good year for Raikkonen; he was able to score only 45 points, compared to 91 in the previous season. 2005 turned out to be much successful, but still not as much as Kimi Raikkonen would have wanted. He won seven races and earned 112 points, equaling Alain Prost's achievement in 1984 for the most wins in a season without winning a championship.
After a five-year stint at McLaren, Raikkonen moved to Ferrari in 2007, replacing Michael Schumacher at the wheel of the red car. He was completely unfazed by the fact that he was replacing a seven-time world champion, and to prove that fact, he won the world title by just one point over Lewis Hamilton. However, an investigation into fuel consumption meant that Kimi would have to wait a whole month to receive the coveted championship title.
The following year he failed to repeat his enchanting debut. He took only third place in the championship, behind Lewis Hamilton and his teammate Felipe Massa. In 2009, Forbes magazine ranked him as the second highest paid pilot in the world, behind only golfer Tiger Woods. But misfortune continued to plague Ferrari, they struggled with problems related to the car's pace, and Raikkonen finished only sixth in the championship, winning the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa.
In September 2009, Ferrari confirmed the conclusion of a contract with. This meant that Raikkonen would have to leave the Scuderia, a year before the end of his contract. This allowed him to continue his career as a rally driver, enjoying the 25 million forfeit paid to him and. His love affair with rallying did not last long. And after some fun in the NASCAR racing series, it became clear that Kimi Raikkonen wants to return to Formula 1.
He negotiated with Lotus and Williams, but ultimately signed with the Enstone team and took them into battle in 2012. Expectations were mixed, but Kimi simply did the job, scoring points in 19 of the 20 races of the season. After several failures in the middle of the season, his first victory came. It was the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, in which he qualified fourth. Any doubts regarding Raikkonen's motivation to win were brushed aside and he began 2013 as one of the TOP drivers of the Formula 1 season.
Raikkonen started 2014 with a victory at the Australian Grand Prix. Throughout the season, Kimi put serious pressure on the championship leaders Red Bull. And after the announcement that Mark Webber had decided to retire from Formula 1, rumors began to spread that he could join Vettel in 2014. All attempts by Red Bull to sign the Iceman failed, and in September the racing community was stunned by the news that Kimi Raikkonen was returning to the Ferrari team, where he would partner Fernando Alonso. Kimi was unable to finish the 2013 season behind the wheel of a Lotus car; back problems and subsequent surgery caused him to be replaced by Heiki Kovalainen in the last two races.
2014 clearly could not please either Kimi or his fans; he could not find a common language with the Ferrari car. Compared to the general background of a slow car and yet faster teammate Fernando, Kimi looked completely dull. However, Alonso decided to leave Ferrari at the end of 2014 and Sebastian Vettel became the new partner of the Iceman. The new season promised an increase in the car's performance and Kimi continued to work hard.
Advantages and disadvantages.
Undoubtedly a gifted racer and this is reflected in one of his statements: “I never think about what I do, I just do it and that’s it!” He said this phrase before his debut race in Australia in 2001, half an hour before which he was sleeping peacefully. Raikkonen's playboy reputation and salary may be too much of a burden for Formula 1, which is on its way out of the crisis.
Highest career achievements.
The championship title in the debut season of 2007 for Ferrari, which he won in the final race in Brazil. Raikkonen was third in the standings, but in a dramatic ending, he was able to get ahead of teammate Felipe Massa, winning the race. His championship rivals Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton finished third and seventh respectively, thus failing to score the required number of points to beat Kimi Raikkonen.
Lowest performance in career.
After finishing third in Hungary in August 2008, he finished second in the championship standings, just five points behind leader Lewis Hamilton. At the next round, which took place at Spa-Francochamps, he was forced to retire due to engine problems and was unable to score points. In the next three races, he also failed to score points, which practically neutralized his attempt to defend the championship title.
Kimi-Mathias Raikkonen(Finnish Kimi-Matias Räikkönen, [ˈkimi ˈmɑtiɑs ˈræikːønen]; according to Finnish-Russian practical transcription, the correct spelling is Räikkönen; born October 17, 1979, Espoo, Southern Finland) is a Finnish racing driver, world champion of the Formula 1 series (in 2007), twice world vice-champion (in 2003 and 2005) and twice bronze medalist (in 2008 and 2012). Considered one of the best racing drivers of our time. In the 2007-2009 seasons he played for the Ferrari team. Since 2009, he has actively participated in rally racing: at Rally Finland he made his debut in the World Rally Championship (WRC).
In December 2009, he decided to leave Formula 1 for at least a year and spend the next year in the WRC, signing a contract with the Citroën Junior Team on March 28, 2010.
At the beginning of 2011, Kimi Raikkonen created his own team in the WRC called ICE 1 Racing for which he will continue his further rally performances in Citroen cars, and Kai Lindström will remain his co-driver. At the beginning of February 2011, Kimi also announced the creation of his own team in the world motocross championship with the same name as in the rally, ICE 1 Racing.
On November 29, 2011, the Lotus team announced the signing of a two-year contract with Kimi Raikkonen for the 2012 and 2013 seasons.
On September 11, 2013, the Ferrari team announced the return of the athlete to the team for the 2014 and 2015 seasons, after which the racing driver intends to leave his sports career.
In November 2013, it was announced that Raikkonen would have back surgery at a clinic in Salzburg, and therefore the pilot would have to miss the last races of the season in the USA and Brazil. At the end of November, the operation was carried out successfully, and it was officially announced that the driver would take to the track in the spring.
Kimi Raikkonen was born on October 17, 1979 in Espoo, Finland. From the age of ten he took part in karting competitions, where he performed quite successfully. From 1994 to 1997, Kimi participated in a kart race on the then only track in Russia in Sosnovy Bor (LNPP Grand Prix), where he took second place. In 1999, he became vice-champion of the Formula Super A karting series. In the same year, he won the British Formula Renault winter series, winning four races. In 2000, Raikkonen dominated the Formula Renault regular season with 13 victories in 23 races.
Season in Sauber
After a successful run in Formula Renault, Peter Sauber, owner of the Sauber team, invited Raikkonen to take part in tests in September 2000, and after successful tests in Jerez and Barcelona, he signed a contract with Kimi for 2001. FIA President Max Mosley objected to the issuance of a super license to a driver who had only completed 23 races in similar racing series and did not have sufficient experience, but then the FIA still issued a provisional license to Raikkonen.
In the first race of the season, the Australian Grand Prix, the Finn was able to finish in the points zone, which was a success for the Sauber team, which was not among the favorites of the season. Subsequently, Raikkonen scored points in three more Grand Prix, and finished the championship in 10th place with 9 points. His more experienced teammate, Nick Heidfeld, also performed well and scored 12 points for the season. This allowed Sauber's team to take fourth place in the constructors' championship - the highest it has ever achieved.
Career at McLaren
Raikkonen's results in the 2001 season impressed McLaren team owner Ron Dennis, and he invited the Finnish driver to his team to fill the seat that was vacated after the departure of Kimi's compatriot, two-time world champion Mika Hakkinen, from Formula 1. Many sports journalists were surprised by this choice, since Raikkonen finished the season worse than his team-mate Nick Heidfeld, but Ron Dennis before the 2002 season repeatedly stated his confidence that Kimi was the driver of the future, and he was sure to win many more Grands Prix .
2002 season
Raikkonen was able to reach the podium in the first race of the season, the Australian Grand Prix, finishing third. In subsequent races, he also showed fairly good results and kept up with his much more experienced teammate David Coulthard. He came close to his first victory at the French Grand Prix, but was thrown off the track after his car drove through oil left on the asphalt from the burnt-out engine of Toyota driver Alan McNish; after this, Raikkonen was able to return to the race, but finished only in second place. However, McLaren cars this season often could not complete the races due to the fact that the Mercedes engines were unreliable and could not withstand the entire race distance. Raikkonen retired in 10 out of 17 races, scored only 24 points and finished the championship in sixth place. Together with Coulthard, they won third place for McLaren in the constructors' championship.
Season 2003
At the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, Raikkonen qualified in 15th place, using a spare car. Despite this, he was able to force his way into first place in the race and was in the lead until he was penalized for speeding in the pit lane. He spent the rest of the race in a bitter battle for third place with Michael Schumacher and was able to get ahead of him, finishing third with a difference of only 0.3 seconds.
At the next race, the Malaysian Grand Prix, Räikkönen took his first Formula 1 victory. He started from seventh place, but due to almost error-free driving, as well as the coincidence of other factors - the collision of Schumacher and Trulli in front, the best tactics of pit stops - he was able to take the lead and maintain it.
The third race, the Brazilian Grand Prix, took place in very heavy rain, and was stopped after lap 55 - Fernando Alonso collided with a wheel from Mark Webber's car, which appeared on the track after the latter's accident a lap earlier. The race stewards decided to stop the race. In this case, the winner is the driver who was the leader 2 laps before the stop, and Raikkonen was first declared the leader. But subsequent analysis revealed that race leader Giancarlo Fisichella, who overtook Raikkonen just on lap 54 due to Kimi's error, was starting lap 56 at the time the race was stopped, and therefore the winner must be determined based on the results of lap 54. In the end, the victory was given to Fisichella, Raikkonen remained second. And the pilots exchanged cups at a small event dedicated to this.
Subsequently, the teams improved their cars, but McLaren was unable to stabilize its new McLaren MP4-18 car, and its racers continued to use a modification of last year’s car, MP4/17D. This led to the fact that the car’s speed could not compete with the new cars of other leading teams, and McLaren had to rely mainly on better tactics.
In the San Marino Grand Prix, Raikkonen took second place, and in the next Spanish Grand Prix he dropped out of the race at the start: in qualifying he was unable to show a fast lap and was sent to last place, and at the start of the race he crashed into Antonio standing in front of him Pizzonia, whose engine stalled. At the Austrian Grand Prix, Raikkonen was second again, defending his position against the constant attacks of Rubens Barrichello. In Monaco, Kimi was close to victory, but lost to Juan Pablo Montoya by just over a second. In Canada, the Finn again crashed off the track in qualifying and started from last place, but was able to finish the race in sixth.
The rest of the season was a close fight between Raikkonen, Schumacher and Montoya. At the European Grand Prix, Raikkonen started from pole and was leading until lap 25, when the engine in his car burned out. At the French Grand Prix, Schumacher finished third and Raikkonen fourth; at the British Grand Prix, Raikkonen was third and Schumacher fourth. At the German Grand Prix, Kimi failed to finish due to a collision in the first turn with Barrichello and Ralf Schumacher, then took second place at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Before the Italian Grand Prix, a scandal erupted over Michelin tires, which turned out to not fully comply with FIA standards. Michelin was forced to urgently supply the teams with new tires, which showed slightly worse results. This also affected the McLaren team, which began to lose even more in speed to Ferrari, which used Bridgestone tires. In the Italian Grand Prix, Schumacher won, and Raikkonen took only fourth place. Then, in the US Grand Prix, Raikkonen started from pole and was in the lead for a long time, but due to the onset of rain, he was unable to maintain his position and lost the lead to Schumacher and finished second.
The fate of the championship was decided in the last race in Japan, where Schumacher only needed to score one point to win the championship. Raikkonen started from eighth place and finished second, while Schumacher took eighth place, scoring exactly one point. Montoya did not finish this race, and in the end Schumacher became the champion, Raikkonen took second place, and Montoya took third.
2004 season
The start of the 2004 season was extremely unsuccessful for the McLaren team. The MP4/18 car was never brought to a working condition, but at the same time, before the start of the season there was no time left to develop a new car. The team started the season with the MP4/19, which was essentially an MP4/18 with only the most significant shortcomings hastily corrected. This car was inferior to competitors in both speed and reliability. In the first seven races of the season, Raikkonen finished only twice and scored one point.
At the same time, development of a new car was underway, which debuted at the French Grand Prix with the index MP4-19B. Raikkonen finished seventh in this race, but then won pole position in the British Grand Prix and finished second in the race behind Michael Schumacher. But although the new car was fast, it lacked reliability, and in the German and Hungarian Grands Prix, Raikkonen failed to finish.
Kimi won his only victory in the 2004 season at the Belgian Grand Prix. He qualified in 10th place, but by lap 11 he was already in first place. In the second half of the race, Raikkonen had to fend off constant attacks from Michael Schumacher, who was in second. Due to accidents, the safety car entered the track three times, and the advantage over Schumacher that Raikkonen had accumulated was lost. However, Räikkönen won all three race restarts, preventing Schumacher from overtaking. It was one of three races of the season that were not won by a Ferrari driver.
At the following Italian Grand Prix, Räikkönen retired again due to electronic problems, then was third in China, just 1.4 seconds behind winner Rubens Barrichello. In Japan, on the first lap, the cars of Raikkonen and Felipe Massa made contact, which caused the Finn to have problems with handling, but despite this, he was able to finish the race in sixth place. In the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix, after a long struggle for the leadership with Juan Pablo Montoya, Raikkonen finished second. At the end of the season, Raikkonen scored 45 points in the championship and finished in seventh place.
Season 2005
The start of the 2005 season was also not successful for Raikkonen. The McLaren cars could not gain sufficient speed in qualifying due to the fact that the Michelin tires did not have time to warm up; as a result, in the qualifications before the first three races, the best achievement of the McLaren team was only sixth place at the start. On top of this, in the first race of the season, the Australian Grand Prix, Räikkönen stalled at the start and struggled to score one point, finishing in eighth place. Then, at the Malaysian Grand Prix, the Finn was third for a long time and had good chances for the podium, but then a tire on his car burst and he rolled out of the points zone. Only in Bahrain, Raikkonen, having started ninth, was able to break into third place and win his first podium of the season.
In qualifying for the next three races - the Grand Prix of San Marino, Spain and Monaco - Raikkonen won first places. In the San Marino Grand Prix he was close to victory, but was forced to retire due to a broken driveshaft; in Spain and Monaco, Raikkonen won, reducing his gap from championship leader Alonso to 22 points. In the following European Grand Prix, he led until the last lap, but then his front wheel suspension broke and he went off the track in the first turn of the final lap of the grand prix. The suspension failure was caused by the fact that when overtaking Jacques Villeneuve, Raikkonen overbraked, and a flat area formed on his wheel, which caused severe vibration. In the 2005 season, wheel changes were only allowed if the wheel was damaged, and since there was no puncture, the team was hesitant to change the wheel for fear of sanctions. After this incident, the FIA issued a clarification to the rules, which explicitly allowed a wheel with a flat area to be considered damaged.
The Canadian Grand Prix was won by Raikkonen again, after Alonso's first significant mistake of the season. The subsequent US Grand Prix was overshadowed by a new incident with Michelin tires, which turned out to be unsuitable for the characteristics of the Indianapolis track. After two serious accidents occurred in free practice at the same place, all Michelin teams, including McLaren, decided not to start the race. Only 6 cars took part in it, which was the smallest number in the entire history of Formula 1.
In the next two races, Raikkonen was penalized with ten places on the starting grid for changing the engine before qualifying (according to the rules, one engine had to be used for the entire weekend). Despite this, he finished second in France and third in Great Britain. At the German Grand Prix, Räikkönen dominated the entire weekend and led the race before retiring with a hydraulic failure. This was his third retirement of the season while he was in the lead, and in all three cases after that his main rival in the championship, Fernando Alonso, won. Kimi won the next race after that, the Hungarian Grand Prix, but at a press conference he said that there was a chance that after the end of his contract with McLaren in 2006, he would leave for another team if the reliability of the cars did not improve. - Raikkonen also won the Turkish Grand Prix, which was held for the first time. He then won pole position at the Italian Grand Prix, but was again penalized 10 places for an engine change; in the race, thanks to a good strategy, the Finn was able to break through to fifth place, but soon after that the rear wheel on his car delaminated, after his change, Raikkonen was forced to make several difficult overtakes, and finished the race only fourth.
At the Belgian Grand Prix, Raikkonen won for the second season in a row. At the Brazilian Grand Prix there was a bitter battle between Alonso, Raikkonen and Montoya, as a result of which the Finn finished second. The penultimate race of the season, the Japanese Grand Prix, became one of Raikkonen's best races - he was able to win it, starting from 17th place (due to the fact that rain mixed up all positions in qualifying). This race was also memorable for Kimi's overtaking of Giancarlo Fisichella on the outer radius on the last lap. This overtaking is rightfully considered one of the most beautiful in the Finn’s career.
Having then taken second place in China, Raikkonen also found himself in second place at the end of the championship, 21 points behind Alonso, but 50 points ahead of third-place Michael Schumacher.
Raikkonen's admirers believe that he was the best driver of 2005, and could have won the championship if the car had been more reliable. This is confirmed by the fact that after the season he was repeatedly named “pilot of the year” in the press, including by such authoritative publications as magazines F1 Racing And Autosport. But most commentators agree that Alonso deservedly won the championship: he dominated the first half of the season, when McLaren suffered from problems, and subsequently drove conservatively and very smoothly, not losing many points to Raikkonen even when he won .
Season 2006
The first race of 2006 was the Bahrain Grand Prix, as the Australian Grand Prix was postponed due to the coincidence with the British Commonwealth Games. In this race, Raikkonen was forced to start from last place due to a rear suspension failure in qualifying, but despite this, he fought his way to the top and finished third. At the Malaysian Grand Prix, Christian Klin crashed into Kimi's car from behind on the first lap, forcing both cars to retire. Alonso won the first race of the season, and finished second in the next, behind his teammate Giancarlo Fisichella, and thus McLaren found itself in almost the same situation as in the previous season. Then in the Australian Grand Prix, Raikkonen, although he took second place and set the fastest lap of the race, was again behind Alonso.
Then Kimi's results worsened. At the San Marino Grand Prix, he made a mistake in qualifying and took only 8th place at the start, which is why he could only finish fifth in the race. Team owner Ron Dennis said after this Grand Prix that the reason for the failure was that Kimi was not driving well enough. Then, at the Spanish Grand Prix, Raikkonen qualified even worse - in ninth place; at the start of the race he was able to improve his position to fifth place and stayed there until the end of the race. A few days after this, Kimi admitted that he did not hope to win the 2006 championship.
At the Monaco Grand Prix, Raikkonen qualified third, took second place in the race and kept in the same rhythm with the leading Alonso, but then retired due to a fire in the car (at first it seemed that the engine had burned out, but later it turned out that the electrical wiring had caught fire) . At the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, Räikkönen started second, behind Alonso and ahead of Schumacher, and this order held until the second series of pit stops, in which Schumacher was able to pass Räikkönen and the Finn eventually finished third. The Canadian Grand Prix ended with the same result, and at the US Grand Prix Raikkonen retired due to a collision with his teammate Montoya (this collision was part of a mass accident in which 7 pilots retired).
At the French Grand Prix, Räikkönen started sixth and was unable to significantly improve his position, finishing fifth. In Germany, the Finn was able to win pole, but did not hold his position in the race and, after a struggle with Button, took third place. In Hungary, Raikkonen again won pole position and led the race, but after 25 laps he collided with Vitantonio Liuzzi, who was a lap behind. In Turkey, Raikkonen qualified only eighth and collided with Scott Speed in the first turn, causing a damaged wheel on his car; he was able to get to the pits and change it, but on the next lap he completely flew off the track. At the Italian Grand Prix, Raikkonen was again on pole and maintained the lead until the first pit stops, when he was passed by Michael Schumacher; Räikkönen retained second place until the end of the race. After this Grand Prix, Schumacher announced his retirement, and a few days later Ferrari management announced that Raikkonen would take his place.
The last three races of the season also did not bring any special achievements. At the Chinese Grand Prix, Raikkonen retired due to engine problems, and in Japan and Brazil he took fifth place. The McLaren era ended with Räikkönen finishing fifth in the Drivers' Championship and third in the Constructors' Championship. It is also worth noting that this was the first year for McLaren since 1996 without a single grand prix victory. .
Career at Ferrari
After the 2006 Italian Grand Prix, the Ferrari team announced that Raikkonen had signed a three-year contract with them (2007-2009). Raikkonen himself said that he was very pleased with his transition, but wishes the McLaren team further prosperity. Kimi's partner is Felipe Massa, who has been driving for Ferrari since 2006. According to unconfirmed information, after the departure of Michael Schumacher, it was Raikkonen who became the highest paid Formula 1 driver - there were rumors that his salary at Ferrari was about $51 million a year.
At the end of 2006, in an interview with a German newspaper Bild Raikkonen admitted that he does not intend to compete with Schumacher in terms of the number of records, and the contract with Ferrari could be the last of his career. “I’m not afraid of work and I’m ready to do what the team needs. If necessary, I will work until late in the evening every day. It would be stupid to refuse the services of Michael; it will be great if he helps me acclimatize to Ferrari. But fighting his records is not for me.”, he said.
Kimi conducted his first tests for Ferrari on January 23, 2007 at the Vallelunga circuit. No official test results were made public; According to the team, the main purpose of the tests was to "acclimate" Kimi to the team.
Season 2007
Kimi Raikkonen spent the 2007 season for the Ferrari team, racing with Felipe Massa. In the first race, at the Australian Grand Prix, he won, starting from pole; in the second and third Grand Prix, Kimi also climbed to the podium, winning third place. At the Spanish Grand Prix, due to electrical problems, Kimi was forced to retire from the race. At the Monaco Grand Prix, in the second part of qualifying, Kimi made a mistake and damaged the suspension, and he had to start from 16th place. As a result, thanks to the tactics of one pit stop, Kimi finished eighth, winning one point. Kimi came fifth at the Canadian Grand Prix and fourth in the USA.
A sea of criticism fell on him because of the failed first half of the season - many said that this year Kimi would no longer be fast and would give way to Felipe. However, after the USA, where, according to many fans, Kimi “woke up”, two victories in a row followed - at the French Grand Prix, and a week later - at the British Grand Prix. Moreover, for the first time in the season, the winner was a driver who entered the first turn not in the lead.
Then there was the European Grand Prix - the first rain race of the season, and the first since the crazy 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix to be stopped by red flags. After the first lap, Kimi was going to go into the pits to change tires, but before entering the pits his car skidded, and he had to do another lap on the rain-drenched track on dry tires. As a result, he rolled back quite far. However, after the rain stopped and the track dried out, Kimi took third position and was approaching the leaders Massa and Alonso, but for the second time this season the car failed - the hydraulics broke. At the Hungarian Grand Prix, held two weeks later, Kimi took second position, going at the pace of leader Lewis Hamilton, and did not allow the Englishman to earn a Grand Slam, setting the Best Lap of the race on the last lap.
Then there was a three-week break, during which Ferrari head Luca di Montezemolo set the team the task of winning all the remaining races in 2007. The team began to carry out this task brilliantly - at the Turkish Grand Prix, Massa started from pole and won, and Kimi earned second place and showed the best lap. Thus, Ferrari has a double in Turkey.
At the Italian Grand Prix, where many expected Ferrari to win, Kimi blocked the rear wheels while braking after the long straight during Saturday's free practice and crashed the car. In the time remaining before qualifying, the mechanics managed to move the engine to a spare car, thanks to which the Finn avoided a fine. However, according to Raikkonen, his neck, damaged in the accident, hurt throughout the race, and the distance was not easy for him - especially braking. Ferrari was clearly inferior in speed to the faster McLaren, and Kimi finished only third.
At the next, 14th stage of the 2007 championship, the Belgian Grand Prix, Kimi won pole, took the lead from the start, and only drove 2 laps without being the race leader - those in which he made a pit stop. He won his third victory in a row at Spa, equaling Michael Schumacher in this indicator, and became the only driver in the field who won more than twice on the same track.
After this, the rainy Japanese Grand Prix took place, where Kimi, due to a delay in delivering a notice from the FIA, had to go to the pits on the third lap to change tires. As a result, he ended up in 21st place, from where during the race he was able to break into third position, making several stunning overtakes, and almost won second place - but still could not. But he won the next race, the Chinese Grand Prix, increasing his chances of winning the championship title.
At the Brazilian Grand Prix, for the first time since 1986, three drivers competed for the title in the final battle of the season. In the final part of qualifying, during Kimi's fast lap, Hamilton came out of the pits in his path, as a result of which Kimi started only third on Sunday. However, already in the first turn he was able to get ahead of Lewis, and after the second series of pit stops - and his partner, finishing first and showing a fast lap. Alonso finished third, Hamilton seventh. As a result, Kimi earned 110 points against 109 for both McLaren drivers, winning the world title.
Season 2008
Kimi started the 2008 season as a world champion. In addition, after Ferrari's impressive results in winter testing, many said that the road to a second title would be a cakewalk for him.
However, the first race in Australia turned out to be a real nightmare for both Raikkonen and the entire team. Already in the first qualifying session, the fuel pump electronics in the Finn’s car failed. Kimi stopped at the entrance to the pit lane, which, according to the rules, deprived him of the right to continue qualifying. As a result, the reigning champion started from fifteenth place. Many overtakes and two trips to the grass culminated in a retirement due to engine problems on the 43rd lap. The Finn took ninth place in the final protocol (only 7 pilots were able to finish this race) and only thanks to Barrichello’s disqualification he earned one point.
Kimi confidently won the race in Malaysia. Pole went to Felipe Massa, who was ahead of Raikkonen after the first pit stop. In Bahrain, Kimi started fourth and finished second, leading the championship. Ten points went to Felipe Massa, who was much faster than everyone else throughout the weekend. After the race, Raikkonen admitted that this track was not very suitable for him.
At the Spanish Grand Prix, Ferrari used a new version of the nose cone with an internal channel for the first time in the race, which redirected part of the air flow falling under the car's underbody to the upper surface of the F2008. Although representatives of the Scuderia have repeatedly stated that the introduction of this element is not a revolution, and the effect of its implementation does not exceed the gains from other aerodynamic innovations, Raikkonen admitted that for the first time this season he was completely satisfied with the behavior of the car. The result is a hat-trick performed by Kimi, and the advantage in the championship strengthened to 9 points. The Finn finished third in the Turkish Grand Prix.
The Monaco Grand Prix was unsuccessful for Kimi. On a damp track, he started second, behind his teammate, who had already earned his third pole position of the season. However, even before the start of the race, due to the team’s delay in fastening the wheels (the technicians finished their work later than the three minutes stipulated by the regulations before the start), the Finn was fined in the form of driving through the pit lane. Perhaps this affected the driver’s psychological mood - at the start, Kimi lost his position to Lewis Hamilton, and damaged the front wing in the first turn. During the race, the team, in anticipation of rain, switched to the tactic of one pit stop, but the calculation turned out to be incorrect. As a result, Iceman only managed to pick up the pace towards the end of the race (showing the best time on the 74th lap), but a possible result was canceled out by a collision with Adrian Sutil on the 69th lap. Kimi was able to continue after replacing the front fairing and finished 9th, and for the Force India driver the fight was over.
After the race, Force India technical director Mike Gascoigne blamed Kimi for his team losing four points. However, it later emerged that if Sutil had finished, he would have been given a 25-second penalty for overtaking rivals under yellow flags, which would have automatically dropped him to tenth place. The race was won by Hamilton, ahead of Raikkonen in the overall standings; Massa came third.
The next race is another failure. In Canada, Kimi qualified third behind Hamilton and Kubica, despite the fact that in the first two sectors of the decisive lap he was ahead of the best time schedule, and in the third he lost a whole second (ahead of Alonso by only 0.011 s). The problems were due to the fact that the renewed asphalt of the Gilles Villeneuve circuit could not withstand hard braking and began to collapse. After qualifying, Raikkonen said: “It’s incredible how much time I was losing in Turn 10 on every lap. The surface of the track started to crumble already during the first session, because of this I could not show a good time: it was like driving on ice, I could not find the right trajectory. This is all the more disappointing because the car was fast and I could have competed for pole.". Massa qualified in sixth position. It is curious that the organizers of the Grand Prix managed to change part of the surface in turn 10 the night before the start.
In the race, after the tires stopped granulating, the Finn was able to pick up a good pace and even set a fast lap. But on the 13th lap, due to the retirement of Adrian Sutil, the safety car entered the track, and Kimi was among five drivers who simultaneously made a pit stop after the 19th lap, when the pit lane was opened. At the exit from the pit lane, the red light was on, and Iceman stopped, catching up with Kubica, and at that moment, Hamilton, who was in the lead before the stop and left the pits third, drove into Raikkonen’s Ferrari from behind, ending the race ahead of schedule for both Kimi and himself. After the second idle start in a row, Raikkonen was in fourth place in the championship.
The streak of bad luck continued to haunt Kimi in Europe. In France, he won his second pole position of the season, ahead of teammate Felipe Massa; after the start he retained the lead, creating a comfortable gap from his pursuers. But in the second phase of the race, the unexpected happened - the exhaust system on the Finn’s car malfunctioned. The exhaust pipe began to wobble (eventually coming off completely) and a hole appeared in the engine casing. All this, naturally, led to a sharp decrease in Kimi's pace, and only the created groundwork allowed him to finish in second place, behind his teammate.
At Silverstone, McLaren began to show a completely different speed - and Raikkonen could only start third. However, in the race he showed a fast lap and expected to compete for victory, but in the conditions of the beginning of rain, the team made a mistake with the choice of tires at the pit stop - intermediate tires led to a few seconds of lag on each lap. As a result, having overtaken Alonso towards the end of the race, the Finn finished only fourth, a lap behind Hamilton, who finished first.
The start of the British Grand Prix was also marked by an unpleasant incident between Kimi and photographer Paul-Henri Kaye - the photographer came too close to the driver at the moment when he was preparing to start and stepped on Raikkonen's bag. He pushed the photographer, who awkwardly fell on his back.
In Germany, Ferrari's balance problems became even more acute - Iceman qualified only sixth. A pit stop while the safety car was on the track, a lot of overtaking (including overtaking Kubica in the last laps) - all this only led to the same 6th place at the finish line. Hamilton's second victory in a row - and Kimi is already only third in the individual standings with a deficit of 7 points.
At the eleventh stage in Hungary the car behaved much better, but Budapest left no doubt that Kimi's problems in qualifying could cost him the title. The Finn himself partly explains his difficulties by the fact that the F2008 puts less stress on the tires - this helps protect them in the race, but makes it difficult to warm up during short qualifying sessions. However, this circumstance hinders Felipe Massa much less - in seven of the eleven past races he started ahead of his partner. And in Hungary, the Brazilian started the race in 3rd place, while Kimi was content with sixth place. After the start, Raikkonen was stuck behind Alonso for a long 50 laps (confirming that it is almost impossible to overtake at the Hungaroring), and only after the second pit stop was he able to get ahead of Fernando, increase the pace and, according to an old habit, show a series of fast laps. True, as it turned out, it was that rare day when fortune turned to face the Finn - a punctured tire on Hamilton’s car and Massa’s retirement due to engine failure a few laps before the finish allowed Kimi to eventually climb to the bottom step of the podium (together with the victorious Kovalainen and Glock). On the other hand, racing fortune demanded that the debt for such a gift be repaid only 3 weeks later - at the first ever stage in Valencia, exactly the same engine failure left the Finn without points.
In Belgium, where the Finn has been lucky for three years in a row, Raikkonen started fourth and was able to break into first place. But 2 laps before the finish it started to rain, and Iceman got off, unable to keep the car on the wet asphalt in a fierce fight with Lewis Hamilton and crashed into the wall. It is worth noting that Lewis himself was subsequently fined and moved to third place in the final protocol, as a result, the victory went to Felipe Massa.
The idle streak continued in the next two races. In Monza, Kimi (and with him the other two championship leaders - Hamilton and Kubica) were unable to qualify for the final part of qualifying due to heavy rain that broke out at the end of the second session. As a result, the Finn started 14th and finished 9th. In the first night Grand Prix of Singapore, Ferrari's strategy was crossed out by the deployment of the safety car after Nelsinho Piquet's accident. And although Raikkonen was able to climb to 5th place, four laps before the finish he hit the curb and crashed his car. The only consolation for the Finn was the tenth fastest lap of the season (thus, three races before the end of the championship, he equaled Michael Schumacher's 2004 record for the second time in his career).
Only in Japan was Kimi able to qualify second and make it to the bottom step of the podium after being thrown back by Hamilton's dangerous maneuver in the first corner of the race.
In the Chinese Grand Prix, Kimi spent almost the entire race second. But at the end he slowed down and let Felipe Massa pass.
Kimi arrived at the Brazilian Grand Prix in third place, finishing third in the final individual standings (75 points). For the most fastest laps in a season (10 of them, more than all his rivals combined), Raikkonen received the DHL Fastest Lap Trophy.
The 2008 season turned out to be perhaps the most unsuccessful for Raikkonen in his career as a Formula 1 driver. In the car that won the Constructors' Championship, Kimi scored only two victories and at the end of the season lost 22 points to his teammate Felipe Massa. Moreover, the same number of points (75) was scored by Robert Kubica, who gave Kimi bronze only because of fewer victories.
Season 2009
On 23 March 2009, less than a week before the start of the championship, team principal Stefano Dominicali, in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport, said of Räikkönen: “He knows that this year is extremely important for him both as a driver and as a team member.” Ferrari. He's smart enough to understand that."
This statement can be seen as indirect confirmation of rumors that the Iceman's future at Ferrari in 2010 depends on the results in this year.
In 2008, due to the intense battle for the title, Ferrari focused its efforts on refining the existing car, and the 2009 car was significantly inferior to the cars of most other teams, especially Brawn GP.
In the first race of the season, the Australian Grand Prix, Raikkonen qualified 9th, but retired on lap 43 after problems with the differential.
In Malaysia, Kimi led the standings of the second free practice session. In qualifying he was again ninth, but due to penalties for Sebastian Vettel and Rubens Barrichello, 10th and 5th places respectively, he started 7th. Rain was expected during the race, and Räikkönen's car was fitted with rain tires. But the track was dry and he lost position after position. Later, the rain actually began to fall, and by the time the race was stopped on lap 33, Raikkonen was in 14th position.
In China, just like in Malaysia, the race took place in the rain. In qualifying, Kimi showed the 8th time, albeit with a lot of fuel. But the race again did not go well, there were certain technical problems and Kimi finished only tenth, and his teammate, Felipe Massa, completely retired on the 21st lap.
In Bahrain, Kimi earned his first points of the season, finishing 6th.
Before the Spanish Grand Prix, the Ferrari team carried out aerodynamic tests of the car, using a double diffuser for the first time. This allowed the team to seriously catch up with the leaders. But the strategists made a mistake in qualifying and Kimi did not even make it out of the first segment. And in the race, due to problems with hydraulics, he was forced to retire on the 17th lap.
At the Monaco Grand Prix, Kimi battled Jenson Button for pole position, but lost it by just 0.025 seconds and started second. At the start, he let Barrichello go ahead and finished third.
In Turkey, the team missed the mark with the aerodynamic settings and the Finn missed the points altogether, finishing ninth.
The same problems continued at the British Grand Prix and Kimi qualified ninth. At the start, he managed to make a good leap and climb to fifth place, but due to the fact that he had less fuel than his competitors, Kimi finished only eighth.
The German Grand Prix was more successful for the team than the last few races. Both Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen were fighting for the podium, but Kimi collided with Sutil for the second time (the first at the 2008 Monaco Grand Prix) and retired a few laps later.
At the Hungarian Grand Prix, Kimi qualified in 7th place, but at the start he was able to break into 4th place. Fernando Alonso, who started from pole, was eliminated himself when a wheel nut on his car was not tightened during a pit stop. During the first pit stop leaving the pits, he almost collided with Webber, but there was no contact and for the rest of the race he walked at an even pace and came to the finish line second, behind Lewis Hamilton.
In Valencia, Raikkonen qualified sixth, but as in previous races, he was able to win back places at the start and rose to fourth place. Thanks to good strategy, he was able to sit out Kovalainen at the second pit stop and reached the podium for the second time in a row, finishing third.
Before the Belgian Grand Prix, the team announced that there would be no more technical updates this year. Despite this, Ferrari looked good on this track. Kimi again qualified sixth, but by the fourth turn he was second. There was an accident in the rear rows, and the safety car entered the track. Raikkonen received instructions from the engineers that after the restart he should overtake Fisichella. After the restart, on the climb to the red water, Kimi used KERS and was able to overtake Fisichella. Stopping on the same lap both times, Kimi was able to maintain the lead and was able to reach the top step of the podium for the first time in the last 25 races, winning his fourth Belgian Grand Prix.
At the Italian Grand Prix, Kimi qualified third, was able to pass Sutil at the start and rose to 2nd place. Using the tactic of two pit stops, the Scuderia miscalculated and after the second pit stop, Kimi found himself behind the Browns and Hamilton. However, on the last lap, Hamilton, leaving the first lap, lost control of the car and Raikkonen finished third.
Completely failed qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix for Kimi - and as a result, only 12th place at the start. At the start, it was not possible to make up anything (even Sebastian Buemi let him go ahead) and after the pace car entered the track, the tactics of one pit stop were completely destroyed. After the second pit stop, Kimi, although he returned to the track in tenth, in close proximity to Kubica and Nakajima, was still unable to overtake them.
Before the Japanese Grand Prix, team management announced that at the end of this season, Kimi Raikkonen would leave the team, and Fernando Alonso would take his place. Stefano Domenicali explained this as the Finnish racer’s taciturnity and closed nature. In qualifying, Kimi set the eighth fastest time (but after a penalty for several drivers, he moved up the grid to fifth place). The car looked very solid in the second and third segments (on supersoft tires), when the lap times exceeded the leaders' times by 0.5-0.6 seconds. As a result, Kimi was able to get ahead of Heidfeld and finish fourth.
In rain qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix, Kimi showed the fifth time. However, the race was ruined for the Finn in turn three when he tried to overtake Mark Webber. During a pit stop, Heikki Kovalainen spilled fuel into the pit lane from his hose, which became stuck in his car. A second later, Kimi drove into this section of the pit lane and his car caught fire for a few seconds. However, this did not stop him from continuing the race, and subsequently a successfully rearranged strategy allowed the Finn to win back places and he finished sixth.
The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix did not go very well for Kimi. He qualified only 11th, therefore not qualifying for the third qualifying segment, which was won by Lewis Hamilton, Kimi's rival for 5th place in the championship. During the start, Kimi not only did not break through, but let Kamui Kobayashi take the lead. On lap 17, Lewis retired due to problems with the brakes, and it seemed that Kimi would be able to break into the points. To regain fifth place, Räikkönen should have finished seventh, but this did not happen. Kimi went with the tactic of one pit stop and therefore did not show good speed. During his only pit stop, Raikkonen was outdone by another McLaren driver, Heikki Kovalainen, as a result of which Raikkonen, after the second wave of pit stops, found himself only 12th and remained until the finish. The race is notable for the fact that neither McLaren nor Ferrari scored points. Kimi Raikkonen finished sixth in the championship, and Ferrari took fourth place in the constructors' championship.
At the end of the season, Raikkonen negotiated with the McLaren team, but eventually announced that he would not compete in Formula 1 in 2010.
Still, Kimi's fans still had some hope. Information appeared in the press that the Mercedes GP team was ready to sign a contract with Kimi. But Raikkonen chose to move to the WRC championship.
The 2009 season left a double impression of Kimi's performances. On the one hand, the Finn sometimes demonstrated something incredible in a slow car, and, on the other hand, perhaps the flaw in the car led to a sharp drop in results compared to the previous season.
2010-2011 (WRC career)
In December 2009, the driver decided to spend the next year in the WRC, signing a contract with the Citroën Junior Team on March 28, 2010.
Räikkönen finished in 8th place in the third race of the 2010 season (Jordan Rally) and earned 4 points. He thereby became the second driver in history, after Carlos Reutemann, to score points in both Formula 1 and the World Rally Championship. At the end of the championship, Kimi took 10th place in the driver standings with 25 points to his name.
On January 2, 2011, information appeared that Raikkonen might end his sports career. The Finnish driver's co-driver Kai Lindström told the Finnish press that Kimi was considering this option after the death of his father, but on January 10, Räikkönen was registered as a participant in the 2011 Rally Sweden.
Of the 11 races, Raikkonen took part in 9, the best result was 6th place in Jordan and Germany.
2011 (NASCAR experience)
In addition to participating in world rallying, Raikkonen tried his hand at NASCAR in 2011, taking part in one race each in two series: the Camping World Truck Series and the Nationwide Series.
2011 (Le Mans prototype testing)
In January 2011, reports emerged that Raikkonen and Sebastien Loeb were planning to compete in the 2011 24 Hours of Le Mans. Both drivers later withdrew from the race. In August, Kimi reiterated his interest in Le Mans and took part in testing the LMP1 Peugeot 908 prototype, completing 35 laps at the Aragon circuit in Spain.
Career at Lotus (Return to Formula 1)
Season 2012
The end of the 2011 season was full of rumors about Kimi's return to Formula 1 as a combat driver for the Williams team. However, negotiations between Raikkonen and Williams did not lead to any positive result. At the end of November it became known that Robert Kubica would not be able to fully recover from the accident by the start of the 2012 season. As a result, Kimi signed a two-year contract with Lotus and will act as a combat pilot. His partner was Romain Grosjean, who had already tried his hand at Formula 1 in 2009, but was unable to show a decent result.
On January 23-24, I conducted individual tests driving a Renault R30 from the year before last in Valencia on Pirelli demo tires. After two years of absence behind the wheel of Formula 1, I was able to show good pace.
In the first qualifying of the season at the Australian Grand Prix, Raikkonen, due to his own mistake and misunderstanding with his team, was able to show only the 18th time, but in the race, thanks to good pace and retirements of his opponents, he finished in 7th place, earning his first points of the season.
At the second stage of the season, the Malaysian Grand Prix, Kimi showed the 5th time in qualifying, but due to a fine imposed after replacing the gearbox, he started from 10th position. Performing confidently in difficult conditions of changing weather, Räikkönen finished in 5th place. In addition, shortly before the finish, the Finn showed the fastest lap of the race.
At the Bahrain Grand Prix, Raikkonen finished second, thereby returning to the Grand Prix podium 4 races after his return. The next Spanish Grand Prix confirmed the good form of the Lotus team: Kimi was again able to make it to the podium, taking third place in the race and losing only 0.6 seconds to Fernando Alonso, who came second. At the European Grand Prix, Kimi started fifth, but Lotus's good ability to save tires in hot conditions, retirements of Vettel and Grosjean, as well as overtaking Hamilton allowed him to finish second. At Silverstone he finished 5th, in Germany 4th, but due to a post-race penalty imposed on Sebastian Vettel for incorrect overtaking, he was given third place. In Hungary he finished 2nd, in Spa third, although he complained throughout the race about the lack of grip. In Monza and Yonam I came 5th, in Singapore and Japan 6th, in India 7th. The first victory of the season came in the UAE. He qualified 5th, but due to Sebastian Vettel’s penalty for underweighting the car in qualifying, he started 4th. At the start, the Finn gained two positions, and after the leader Lewis Hamilton retired, he took the lead and held off Fernando Alonso, who was catching up with him. In the USA he started 4th and finished 6th. In Brazil he started 8th and finished 10th, making him the only rider in the peloton to finish every race of the season.
Season 2013
Raikkonen got off to a great start to the season with a win at the Australian Grand Prix. In qualifying on a drying track, he showed the seventh fastest time. At the start I played two positions. Later, due to two pit stops against three of his competitors, he took the lead and set the fastest lap two laps before the end of the race. This victory was his twentieth in his career. In Malaysia, Kimi qualified 7th but was punished by the stewards with the loss of three grid places for blocking Nico Rosberg. He also finished 7th in the race. In China he started and finished second, in Bahrain he qualified ninth, but due to a penalty imposed on Lewis Hamilton for changing the gearbox, he started eighth. During the race, he used a strategy of two pit stops versus three for his competitors. This allowed him to finish second behind Sebastian Vettel. The podium at the Bahrain Grand Prix was exactly the same as the podium at the 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix, with Vettel, Raikkonen and Grosjean finishing in the same order. In Spain, starting 4th, Kimi used the tactic of three pit stops against four of his main competitors: Alonso, Massa and Vettel - this allowed him to get ahead of Massa, and due to this he finished 2nd. In Monaco, he qualified 5th, and in the race, in a fight with Sergio Perez, he punctured his rear left tire. Kimi went into the pits, changed tires, but only came out sixteenth. But on fresh tires, he quickly caught up with the field and in the last laps passed van der Garde, Chilton, Gutierrez, Bottas, Hulkenberg and still finished in tenth place, earning one point. In Canada he started 12th and finished 9th; at Silverstone he qualified 9th, but moved up to 8th place due to a penalty imposed on Paul di Resta for underweighting the car. Finished 5th in the race. At the Nurburgring, thanks to the updates, Kimi started 4th and finished 2nd. Moreover, by the last lap the Finn caught up with the leader Sebastian Vettel, but there was not enough time to attack. In the Hungarian Grand Prix, he qualified 6th and finished 2nd, beating off Sebastian Vettel at the end of the attack. It is noteworthy that Kimi's podium in Hungary became the 150th podium for Finnish drivers in Formula 1. In the rain qualifying at Spa, Kimi showed only 8th time, and in the race he completely retired due to problems with the brakes. This is Raikkonen's first retirement in his entire time at Lotus. In Italy he performed poorly, starting and finishing 11th. Moreover, at the start, the Finn damaged the front wing on the car of Sergio Perez, which is why he had to make 2 pit stops during the race against one of his competitors. At the end of the race, he caught up with Jenson Button, who was 10th, but did not have time to pass him.
On September 11, 2013, it was announced that Raikkonen had been returning to Ferrari since 2014, having signed a two-year contract with the team.
In Singapore, due to back problems, Kimi qualified only 13th, but in the race, due to fewer pit stops, he broke through to the bottom step of the podium. In Korea, he qualified tenth, but due to Mark Webber's penalty, he started 9th. In the race he made a breakthrough to 2nd place. In Japan, he qualified ninth and finished in fifth place. In India, he started 6th and finished 7th, and on the penultimate lap, due to severe tire wear, he made an unscheduled pit stop, and on the last lap, on fresh soft tires, he showed the fastest lap. In Abu Dhabi, he qualified 5th, but was excluded by the stewards from the protocol and moved to last place at the start due to non-compliance with the regulations of the front part of the underbody. In the race, he retired already in the first turn, damaging the steering after contact with the car of Guido van der Garda.. On November 10, it became known that Kimi would miss the last two races in the USA and Brazil due to an operation that was scheduled to be performed on his back on November 14 due to long-standing problems with the spine.. Kimi finished the season in the final fifth place.
Return to Ferrari
Season 2014
In Australia - the 1st race after returning to the Italian stable - Raikkonen finished 8th, but due to the disqualification of Daniel Ricciardo he rose to 7th place. In Malaysia, he qualified sixth, but the race was ruined already on the 2nd lap, when Kevin Magnussen, in an attempt to overtake, punctured his rear right tire with his front wing. Kimi lost almost a minute to reach his pits and eventually finished the race in 12th place. He beat Fernando Alonso for the first time this season in qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix, setting the sixth fastest time. However, he failed the start and finished tenth behind Fernando Alonso. In China, he qualified only eleventh, despite the fact that Fernando Alonso qualified in fifth place. He finished eighth in the race. In Spain, he was ahead of Alonso in qualifying, showing the sixth time. However, he finished 7th in the race, behind Alonso. In Monaco I started 6th. He started the race well and came in third place after Sebastian Vettel retired. But later in the race he rolled back due to a puncture, and five laps before the finish he collided with Kevin Magnussen at the Fairmont Hotel turn, hitting the fence. Kimi was forced to make a third pit stop and ended up finishing twelfth, setting the best lap of the race on the penultimate lap. This best lap was already the 40th in the Finn’s career. In Canada he started and finished tenth. In Austria, where Kimi made his 200th start in Formula 1, he finished tenth. In the UK, already on the 1st lap I came out of the turn too wide and, jumping on a bump, crashed into the bump stop. In Germany he finished 11th. In the first segment of qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix, Ferrari decided to limit itself to one attempt on medium tires and miscalculated; in the last seconds, Marussia team driver Jules Bianchi knocked Kimi out of the second segment, pushing him to 17th place. In the race he broke through to 6th place. Kimi was able to have a good race in Belgium. Having started eighth, he finished fourth, battling for the bottom step of the podium with his compatriot Valtteri Bottas at the end of the race. In Italy he finished 10th, but due to Kevin Magnussen's penalty he moved to 9th place. In Singapore I started 7th and finished 8th. In Japan, Ferrari was a complete failure. Raikkonen started 10th and finished 12th, and his teammate Alonso completely retired on the 3rd lap due to problems with electronics. At the first ever Russian Grand Prix, Kimi qualified ninth, but moved up to eighth place due to a penalty imposed on Kevin Magnussen. He finished 9th in the race. In the USA he started 8th, but due to severe tire wear he finished only 13th. In Brazil he finished 7th. In the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi, he started 7th and finished 10th. Kimi finished the season in twelfth place, earning 55 points, and for the first time since his debut season in 2001, he never stood on the podium. Kimi's best moments of the season were 4th place at the Belgian Grand Prix and the best lap at the Monaco Grand Prix, which became the only fastest lap for Ferrari in the 2014 season.
Season 2015
Kimi Raikkonen started the season with a new teammate, four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso moved to the McLaren Honda team. Already at the pre-season tests, it was noticeable that Ferrari managed to significantly improve its engine and seriously catch up with the representatives of Mercedes engines, the factory Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team and the Williams F1 Team.
At the first Australian Grand Prix of the season, Kimi qualified in fifth place, only 3 hundredths behind Vettel. During the race, Kimi retired on lap 41 due to a loose rear left wheel during a pit stop. Nevertheless, Ferrari confirmed its speed, Vettel finished third, and Kimi himself showed excellent pace on soft tires throughout the race. In Malaysia, the Finn qualified poorly (11th), punctured a tire at the start, but the appearance of the safety car on the track brought him back into the race. Kimi made a breakthrough to 4th place. In China, he qualified 6th and finished 4th, and after Lewis Hamilton's second pit stop he took the lead of the race by one lap for the first time since Germany 2013.
Formula 3 team
In 2004, Kimi Raikkonen, together with sports manager Steve Robertson, founded the Raikkonen Robertson Racing racing team, which began competing in the Formula 3 championship in 2005. The team is based in Woking, England, in close proximity to McLaren. In 2005 and 2006, one of the pilots of this team was Bruno Senna, nephew of the legendary Ayrton Senna.
In the 2006 season, the team achieved significant success - its driver Mike Conway won the British Formula 3 championship, also winning the most prestigious Macau Grand Prix.
Following the results of 22 stages of the 2008 season, the team pilot Atte Mustonen (also from Finland) took 6th place in the international class, with 138 points and one victory.
Character and personal life
Kimi Raikkonen is considered a very calm and calm driver who accurately calculates the strategy and tactics of the race. For these qualities he received the nickname "Ice Man" ( The Iceman). Some journalists compared his driving style to that of Niki Lauda.
It is also believed that Raikkonen loves to sleep, so he has to be woken up before the races. There were rumors that 30 minutes before his first Grand Prix in Formula 1, Kimi was still sleeping. He confirmed these facts when he participated in the last episode of the 18th season of Top Gear as a guest star.
In addition to racing, Kimi enjoys hockey, which he plays quite well. He also loves cycling and snowboarding. I recently took part in the Lapland Rally and showed good results for a newcomer to such competitions. In addition, he has been interested in snow motorcycle racing for quite some time, where he often wins. Kimi also likes to drink something stronger, and is often caught drunk; In addition to this, Kimi is a smoker.
From 2004 to 2013, Raikkonen was married to Finnish model Jenny Dahlman. He lived with her in a huge mansion with an area of 526 m². on the island of Kaskisaari on the outskirts of Helsinki, purchased in the 2000s. for 9.5 million euros.
In addition to the mansion in the capital of Finland, Kimi Raikkonen has a villa overlooking the sea on the island of Phuket (Thailand) and a luxurious penthouse with historical interiors in the center of Helsinki - in the so-called “Stone Palace” (Kivipalatsi), built in 1896 by architect Florentin Granholm. In April 2014, it became known that Raikkonen paid about 3 million euros for the penthouse, and spent about 2 million euros on restoration.
Currently, Kimi Raikkonen is divorced from Jenny Dahlman and lives in a civil marriage with Minttu Virtanen. On January 27, their son Robin was born.
Kimi Raikkonen - photo
Kimi Raikkonen Net Worth, Salary, Cars & Houses
| Estimated Net Worth | 110 million dollars Celebrity Net Worth Revealed: The 55 Richest Actors Alive in 2019! |
| Yearly Salary | N/A SURPRISING: The 10 Best Salaries in Television! |
| Product Endorsements | Tag Heuer Watches & Pirreli |
| Colleagues | Peter Sauber, Ron Dennis & David Coulthard |
Houses
- Kaskisaari in Helsinki, Finland house ($17.8 million) (Swimming Pool Jacuzzi Beach Spa)
Cars
- Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren
Kimi Raikkonen: Girlfriend, Dating, Family & Friends
Kimi Raikkonen with beautiful, Girlfriend Minttu VirtanenWho is Kimi Raikkonen dating in 2019?
| Relationship status | Dating (Since 2013) |
| Sexuality | Straight |
| Current Girlfriend of Kimi Raikkonen | Minttu Virtanen |
| Ex-girlfriends or ex-wives | Jenni Dahlman-Räikkönen, Hanna Raivisto |
| More info | Was previously married and divorced |
| Has any kids? | No |
Family
Names of father, mother, children, brothers & sisters.Friends
Skin, Hair & Eye color
This friendly driver originating from Espoo, Finland has a athletic body & oval face type. Kimi Raikkonen makes commercials for Tag Heuer, but actually uses: Rexona & Tommy Hilfiger.
| Hair color | Regular blonde |
| Hair type | Straight |
| Hair Length | near-shaved hair |
| Hairstyle | alternative |
| Distinct feature | smile |
| Skin Tone/Complexion | Type I: Light skin |
| Skin Type | Normal |
| Beard or Mustache | Beardless |
| Eye color | Gray |
| Does Kimi Raikkonen smoke? | Yes, regularly CAUGHT SMOKING: The 60 Most Shocking Celebrity Smokers! |
Kimi Raikkonen - 2019 Regular blond hair & alternative hair style.
Height, Weight, Body Measurements, Tattoos & Style
Kimi Raikkonen endorses clothing brands like Tag Heuer. And wears brands like Oakley.| Height | 175 cm | Weight | 68 kilo | Clothing style | alternative |
| Favorite colors | red |
| Feet size | 11 |
| Biceps | 29 |
| Waist size | 109 |
| Buste size | 128 |
| Butt size | 113 |
| Does Kimi Raikkonen have a tattoo? | Yes Kimi has a tribal on his wrist OMG! 50 Celebrity Tattoos Gone Horribly Wrong! |
The Libra with shirtless athletic body on the beach
Official websites/fansites: www.kimiraikkonen.com
Does Kimi Raikkonen have official Social Media profiles?
Kimi Raikkonen was simultaneously the calmest and most impressive driver. On the one hand, he was plagued by constant technical problems on his way to the top. But in such situations, he did not lose his mental balance and worked hard with his mechanics. They called him “Kimster” (“Kimi the master”) and there was a reason for that - despite his laconicism, he could always explain what was wrong and how. On the other hand, these same problems often pushed him down the starting grid, and here his other side showed up. He had many comebacks to his name, for which he was worthy of boundless respect. But it all started with a lot of cronyism, and in 2001 no one understood how a Finn could claim anything in the royal class. Fortunately, Kimi lived up to the trust and, unfortunately, while Räikkönen's racing road took a different path.
Miracles on turns
Kimi Mathias Raikkonen was born on October 17, 1979 in Espoo, a suburb of Helsinki. The family was not swimming in money, but the parents worked hard all the time to provide their sons with a good future. Kimi, along with his older brother Rami, loved racing motorcycles from an early age, and success did not pass them by. But when Iceman turned 10 years old, their paths diverged. Rami was more interested in rally racing, but Kimi Mathias took a step towards open-wheel racing. To satisfy the wishes of their youngest son, the parents abandoned the planned renovation and bought a kart. Kimi quickly became friends with this little car and began to drive laps in the junior series in Finland. He was a completely athletic person and was not threatened with success at school. For example, he used his student’s backpack instead of a sled on various hills, and then disappeared to the skating rink, where he played hockey.
At the age of 16, Raikkonen graduated from school and began working as a mechanic, so as not to part with the world of engines. But very soon he realized that while working he would lose his innate talent as a racer. So his family helped keep his focus on racing. In 1998, Iceman won the first race in Norway, and the next year he took second place in the European Championship in the Formula Super A series. Such success sent him to England, where he began competing in Formula Renault. Kimi instantly conquered the heights of the new series. First, he won the winter championship in 1999, and the following year he won the main trophy of British Formula Renault. At the end of 2000, he had only 23 races under his belt, but the world was stunned by the news that Sauber wanted to sign a contract with him. Kimi performed brilliant tests in Mugello, but it all came down to the fact that he did not have a Super License. Max Mosley did not hide the fact that he was against the Finn’s performance in Formula 1, but, nevertheless, Raikkonen was made an exception, and he began to prepare for the first stage of 2001.
Step to genius
The trip to Australia was Kimi's first outside of Europe. But such a long-term pilot did not take away one of his main qualities - quickly learning a new route. It only took five laps for the Finn to find his line and he delivered an excellent Grand Prix. The Finn started 13th and, thanks to several overtakings, worked his way up to sixth place. Nick Heifeld, a young teammate, was taller than him, but the German had a season in Formula 1 and a championship in the minor series under his belt. The season turned out similarly for both - Nick still had a small advantage, but in the end Kimi won.
Already in the middle of the season, Raikkonen was grabbed by the bosses of the McLaren team, who were looking for a replacement for Hakkinen. Mika announced a break from his career at the time, but he never returned - maybe not yet. At that time, Mika and Kimi had already become friends, although they didn’t even know each other until 2001. Perhaps the two-time champion lobbied somewhat for the interests of his compatriot, but this is not important now - Kimi fully justified the trust and only miracles in several races deprived him of victories and titles.
After Häkkinen left, the McLaren team fell into a kind of stupor. Neither Coulthard nor Raikkonen were able to impose a fight on Ferrari and Williams and waged an internecine battle for fifth place in the individual standings. It was won by the more experienced Briton, but Kimi's performance did not go unnoticed. There were no wins on his record that year, but the French Grand Prix is something statistics cannot describe. A few laps before the finish, Kimi was in the lead and ahead of Michael Schumacher, who was preparing to win his fifth title ahead of schedule six races before the end of the season. Second place was enough for the German that day, so he did not fight hard, but then the stars had their say. Alan McNish's engine blew and leaked oil just before the Adelaide hairpin. This was precisely what became the fatal circumstance for the Finnish pilot, who slipped and lost the lead. After that ill-fated second place, Kimi achieved another podium in Japan and became the sixth driver in the championship.
Roller coaster
At the 2003 Australian Grand Prix, Kimi had one of the best races of his career. He failed to qualify - Raikkonen made a mistake on a fast lap and he was forced to start from 15th position. A poor starting position eventually helped him find the right decision before the race. The fact is that a few minutes before the start it started to rain and everyone changed their shoes to rain tires. The Finn did the same, but after the warm-up lap he turned into the pits and put on slicks. The risk paid off - the track began to dry out quickly and Raikkonen quickly improved his position until he was in the lead. Everything was going well for him, and he fought off Michael Schumacher well, but all his efforts were ruined by a penalty for speeding in the pit lane. After driving through the pit lane, Kimi found himself in eighth position, but now problems with others helped him rise to third place.
The season started off healthy, but no one expected Kimi to start fighting for the championship. At the second stage in Malaysia, Iceman won the first race in his career - and this despite the fact that he started from seventh position. The Finn continued to fight for the title until the last race, but still lost to Schumacher. He had almost everything in his hands, but constant starts from the middle of the grid did not allow him to win the title. But Kimi failed to realize his two pole positions. First, his engine burned out at the European Grand Prix after 25 laps of leading, and then he lost a head-to-head battle with Michael in the USA.
Already in his third season, Kimi was incredibly close to the championship title, but in many ways everything was decided by Schumacher’s experience. Now the Finn himself had to learn the necessary lessons and implement them correctly in time. In 2004 there was no such possibility. Mercedes engines began to seriously malfunction, and all chances of fighting were lost in the first half of the championship. In eight starting stages, Raikkonen gained only one point and all that remained was to finish the championship, catching chances in individual races. One of these took place in Spa, where Kimi started from 10th place and won the race. During the race, Raikkonen beat his main competitors in a beautiful fight and won the only victory of the season, waiting for the tenacious equipment.
All we could do was look forward to the next season and hope that there would be more trips to the finish line. That’s what happened in the end - there were more of them, but not enough to win. Finn suffered a second stunning defeat, for which it is difficult to justify - he simply had colossal bad luck. At the first Australian Grand Prix, he was supposed to start from tenth position, but the situation worsened when the engine stalled. Raikkonen started from the pit lane, as he did two years ago, and made his way to eighth place, 40 seconds behind the winner.
Getting closer to the title
In Malaysia, after a pit stop, Raikkonen immediately punctured a tire and was forced to repeat the procedure. Despite the fact that Kimi set the fastest lap, he was content with only ninth place. In Bahrain, Kimi started ninth and finished on the podium, but retired in San Marino. As a result, in the first four stages the Finn gained only seven points and was as much as 29 points behind Alonso. The next stage took place in Spain, and it was urgently necessary to strike on the opponent’s territory. This time the solitaire worked out - pole position and then a landslide victory in the race. In Monaco, Kimi closed the gap a little more, but at the Nurburgring he received a strong psychological blow. Raikkonen was leading the race, but at one point he made a bad lap and suffered a slow puncture.
Fernando Alonso was not far away, and the McLaren team decided to take a risk - to go for victory at the risk of a puncture. Because of these problems, the car experienced great stress, but still Kimi went into the last lap as a leader. And after a few hundred meters Raikkonen finished the race. The front suspension could not withstand the hard braking before the first turn and broke - the Finn flew into the safety zone, and Fernando Alonso to his victory. The gap between the two pilots again became huge and could no longer be overcome psychologically. True, Kimi managed to save the intrigue until the Brazilian Grand Prix, but in fact he lost the championship even earlier. And again such failure gave way to pure failure for both Kimi and McLaren.
In 2006, the role of Sauron and Gandalf the White was shared between Ferrari and Renault, while the rest were content with minor battles for places on the podium. Kimi won this “small” battle - he finished in the top three six times and took fifth place in the individual competition. According to tradition, Iceman was supposed to fight for the title again at McLaren, but in the end it turned out a little differently. Raikkonen moved to Ferrari before the start of the 2007 season and signed a contract for a record salary of $51 million. But the Finn was faced with the task of not only earning this money, but also replacing Michael Schumacher himself, who, as it turned out, was temporarily done with racing. At the beginning of the season, things finally started to work out for him. He won the first three stages and came second twice more - an excellent individual result, but his rivals did not lag behind. All the pilots from McLaren and Ferrari fought a terrible battle and took turns taking victories from each other.
All the Grand Prix of the season were shared by these drivers, but Lewis Hamilton had some advantage along the way. The Briton was the best in additional indicators and ended up being the main favorite. It was only necessary to avoid making the mistakes that he did make. Two stages before the finish of the championship, Kimi was 17 points behind Lewis and became the champion. The Finn won two races, while both his rivals from McLaren were one point behind him. All of Raikkonen's failures in the past received compensation, and the Finn fully deserved it. Perhaps this championship pales in comparison to the scandals that plagued the rival team, but the Finn should not be worried about these problems. There were many great drivers who were left out of the list of champions at the last moment, and it’s good that Raikkonen was not one of them.
Calm
The next two seasons at Ferrari were not so successful. In 2008, everything was in order with the technology, but many blamed him for the Finn’s failures. Kimi's entourage ate him up with talk that he had lost his goal and was no longer so interested in racing. Perhaps it was these statements that bothered Raikkonen, but he still had a bad season, as for the current world champion. Kimi achieved two victories and reached the podium several more times, which was only enough for third position in the championship. Even Robert Kubica matched him on points, and he again improved sharply, but the Pole had fewer victories. This result should have given the Finn additional strength and forced him to prove everything to everyone again, but then Ferrari was sunk by changes in the regulations. The Scarlets were one of the few that used KERS, but this development did not help them even at the most opportune moment.
In the first five stages, Kimi scored three points, but in Monaco he started second behind Jenson Button. It seemed that Raikkonen should have won at the start, thanks to KERS, but he even managed to lose the position to Barrichello. Finn finished third and this was the best result at that time. Despite the unsuccessful start of that race, Ferrari was remembered and immediately forgotten until the stage in Hungary. This Grand Prix became a key event in the championship for the stable from Maranello. Kimi finished second, but the Grand Prix was marred by Massa's horrific crash. The life of the Brazilian pilot was in the balance, but, fortunately, everything worked out. After this stage, Kimi managed to win in Spa, fighting with Fisichella at Force India, but the fate of the last races of the season was a foregone conclusion.
The team stopped developing the car, not seeing any special prospects, and Kimi went into the championship by inertia, which was accompanied by rumors about his future. As a result, the page turned when the world learned about the official early termination of Ferrari's contract with Kimi. Finn began looking for a new job and found it with the Citroen-Junior team, which competes in the World Rally Championship. Of course, the Finn had a chance to stay in Formula 1, but he wanted peace of mind. All that remains now is to follow him in the WRC and wish him good luck there.
Kimi Raikkonen competed in various karting competitions from the age of nine, where he won several championship titles. In 1999–2000, he took part in Formula Renault competitions, in which he competed in 23 races (winning thirteen of them). After such successful performances, Raikkonen was invited to Formula 1 tests with the Sauber team. Based on their results, Peter Sauber signed a contract with the Finnish pilot. However, his limited experience in open-wheel series did not allow Raikkonen to obtain permission to participate in Formula 1. After some consideration, he was nevertheless given a conditional super license with a probationary period of four rounds. At his debut Australian Grand Prix in 2001, Raikkonen finished sixth.2002-2006. McLaren
In the 2002 season, the young Finn moved to Ron Dennis' team to replace his fellow countryman, Mika Hakkinen. Already during his debut race for McLaren, Kimi finished in third position, and at the French Grand Prix he was one step away from his first victory. But overall the season did not go well due to McLaren's technical problems. But the next year was triumphant for the Finn - a victory at the second stage of the season, two third places and seven second. The result is a vice-championship and many photos of a happy Kimi. His further career at McLaren continued to be like a roller coaster: endless technical problems in 2004, second vice-championship in 2005 and a complete failure in the 2006 season. Gradually the Finnish pilot became less talkative and more and more serious.
2007 Championship title
At the end of 2006, Michael Schumacher announced that he was retiring from Formula 1. Ferrari did not hesitate for long and took Kimi Raikkonen in his place. For this, the Finnish driver thanked the team in full: he said in all interviews that he was very happy about moving to the Scuderia and wanted Ferrari to be his last team in his career. And then he went on to win the Australian Grand Prix and the whole season. At the moment, this is the only championship title in Kimi Raikkonen's collection.
2008-2009. Ferrari
The 2008 season started quite well for our today's hero. After an extremely unsuccessful race in Australia, Raikkonen won stages in Malaysia and Spain, became second in Bahrain and confidently led the individual standings. But then, one after another, technical problems with the car and mistakes by the pilot began to appear. As a result - third place in the overall standings. At the beginning of the 2009 season, Stefano Dominicali, head of Ferrari, said that the Finn’s future in the team depended only on himself. But the streak of failure for the driver continued, and that year Kimi Raikkonen finished ninth in the individual competition.
2010-2011. Outside Formula 1
At the end of the 2009 season, Kimi Raikkonen announced his retirement from Formula 1 and his move to the WRC, where he competed for the Citroën Junior Team. And in 2011, the Finn created his own Ice 1 Racing teams in the WRC series and motocross. For the first time in a long time, the appearance of our hero has also changed: instead of the usual short haircut, Kimi Raikkonen's hair has become longer.
2012-2013. Lotus
The Finnish driver decided to return to Formula 1 after a two-year break. At the end of the 2011 season, there were rumors about a collaboration between Kimi Raikkonen and Williams. But the driver chose Lotus for his return. In general, the 2012 season went well for the Finn: a stable finish in the top ten (with the exception of the Chinese race), not a single retirement during the season, 7 podiums, a victory in Abu Dhabi and third place in the individual competition. The next year passed on the same note. True, according to the results of the 2013 season, Kimi became only fifth. The statistics were spoiled by two final stages, in which the driver did not take part due to back problems. And in September 2013, the Ferrari press service reported that in the 2014 season Raikkonen would again drive an Italian car. During his two seasons at Lotus, Kimi Raikkonen appeared before fans with both long and short hair.
2014-2016. Ferrari
The return to the Scuderia was not as enchanting as the debut seven years ago. The team found it difficult to switch to the new 1.6-liter V6 turbo engines, so neither Fernando Alonso nor Kimi Raikkonen were able to show results worthy of the champion team. But the situation improved significantly in the 2015 season, when Sebastian Vettel became the team leader and the Finn’s new partner. Kimi was able to finish on the podium three times and finish the championship in 4th place. After much deliberation, the head of Ferrari extended the contract with the driver for 2016, and then for 2017. Raikkonen again announced that after leaving the Italian team he would end his career in Formula 1. And the driver, Paula Raikkonen, admitted in an interview that after her son returned to the Scuderia, he began to smile a lot more.
Personal life
Kimi Raikkonen met the Finnish model Jenny Dahlman (pictured below left) in 2002. They got married on July 31, 2004, and their marriage ended in 2013. In the same year, at the Hungarian Grand Prix, journalists first noticed Mintta Virtanen, Raikkonen’s new chosen one, in the Formula 1 paddock. The girl skillfully combines modeling, work as a flight attendant and supporting her loved one - she appears in the Queen of Motorsport's pits at almost every stage. For a long time the couple lived in a civil marriage, but on August 7 in Italy they legalized their relationship. On January 27, 2015, their son Robin was born - an exact copy of Kimi. Minttu claims that at home the famous pilot is completely different - more emotional and sociable. And observant paparazzi noticed that after the meeting with Minttu, Raikkonen became more at home and calm.
Tattoos
The Finnish pilot is a big fan of body images. Raikkonen's first tattoo was a small smiling sun, which the Finn got on his right wrist back in 2001. In 2007, he changed it to a large abstract image. At the time, there weren't many drivers in the Formula 1 paddock with such visible tattoos. Therefore, journalists almost immediately asked Jean Todt (who then headed Ferrari) for his opinion regarding the pilot’s appearance. The Frenchman surprised many by declaring that he would break contracts with those sponsors who would say something against Raikkonen’s tattoos. “This is a personal matter for the pilots. If Kimi wants to get a tattoo on her face, for God’s sake,” added Todt. In 2008, Kimi got a second tattoo on his left arm. This was the Finn's nickname - Iceman.
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