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'Kimi Matias Räikkönen' (pronounced ), born October 17, 1979 in Espoo, Finland, is a Formula One racing car driver for Scuderia Ferrari. He finished runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 2003 and 2005. He has driven for Sauber-Petronas (2001) and Team McLaren-Mercedes (2002–2006) he currently drives for Ferrari with whom is contracted until the end of the 2009 season.
Career
Early career (until 2000)
He had a long line of success in karting from the age of ten, including placing second in the 1999 European Formula Super A championship. He also competed that year in the Formula Ford Euro Cup, and by the age of twenty, he had won the British Formula Renault Winter series, winning the first four races of the year. In 2000, he won seven of ten events in the Formula Renault UK Championship. After racing in the Formula Renault series later in 2000, Räikkönen had won 13 of 23 events — a 56% win rate.
Sauber – entry into Formula One (2001)
On the basis of these results, Peter Sauber gave the Finn a test with the Sauber Formula One team in September of 2000. After further tests in Jerez and Barcelona, Sauber signed Räikkönen for the 2001 season. However, some critics (including FIA president Max Mosley) voiced concerns over granting an F1 superlicence to such an inexperienced driver, having only 23 car races to his credit. He was nevertheless granted one and scored a championship point in the 2001 Australian Grand Prix, his maiden Grand Prix. Räikkönen was asleep 20 minutes before his first F1 GP (It is said that he loves to sleep - so much so that he needs to be woken up before qualifying and races.)
Räikkönen is very calm, cool, and calculating in his race strategy - prompting the nickname "the Iceman", which is subtly written on the side of his current helmet design. His other nicknames include Kimppa, Räikkä and Kimster (used by his mechanics). Some Finns jokingly call him "Räkä", meaning snot in Finnish. This nickname was derived from "Häkä" (carbon monoxide in Finnish), the nickname of Mika Häkkinen. He had a solid debut year, achieving four points-scoring finishes and eight finishes in the top eight. Completing the year with 9 points, Räikkönen, along with teammate Nick Heidfeld, helped Team Sauber to its highest ever result: fourth place in the constructors championship.
McLaren (2002–2006)
Räikkönen, long linked to Sauber's engine supplier Ferrari, instead sufficiently impressed McLaren, earning a race seat in Ron Dennis's team for 2002, taking the seat left vacant by double-world champion (and fellow Finn) Mika Häkkinen's retirement.
2002
Kimi Räikkönen, United States GP, 2002.
Räikkönen scored a third-place podium finish in his first race with McLaren, the 2002 Australian Grand Prix. Although McLaren suffered many Mercedes engine failures in 2002, he scored 24 points and four podiums, and held his own against teammate David Coulthard. Räikkönen came close to winning his first Grand Prix in Magny-Cours, France, but went off track due to oil from the blown engine of Allan McNish's Toyota on the circuit with a handful of laps to go. He finished the race second. He finished the season in sixth place, one place behind his team mate; Together they achieved a solid third place for McLaren in the constructors' championship.
2003
At the opening Australian Grand Prix Räikkönen qualified 15th in the spare car. In the race he took the lead before being caught speeding in the pitlane, after a software glitch in the car's electronic system. Räikkönen held off Michael Schumacher to finish 3rd. It was in Malaysia, where Räikkönen won his first race after starting from 7th on the grid. During the next round in Brazil, Räikkönen was declared the winner after the race was stopped on lap 55. According to rules the winner is decided by the race order as of two laps before the race stopped, i.e. lap 53. However a week later, evidence emerged that Giancarlo Fisichella was on lap 56 when the race stopped, therefore the winner was decided by the order at lap 54. This granted the win to Fisichella, with Räikkönen 2nd.
As other teams improved their cars, McLaren, who were still using the 2002 chassis, began to falter in terms of race speed. However, Räikkönen finished 2nd at Imola. At the Circuit De Catalunya in Spain, Räikkönen made a mistake in qualifying and had to start from the back of the grid, and at the start, he collided with Antônio Pizzonia, who was stuck on his grid position due to a launch control problem, causing Räikkönen to retire from the race.
The next few races came down more to strategy rather than speed. Whilst having understeering problems Räikkönen defended his 2nd position from Rubens Barrichello in Austria. He came extremely close to winning at the Monaco, but lost by less than a second to Juan Pablo Montoya. Starting from the pitlane in Canada after he went off track during qualifying with understeer, Räikkönen finished 6th, more than a minute adrift of race winner Michael Schumacher.
Räikkönen at the 2003 French Grand Prix.
At the European Grand Prix, Räikkönen took pole, and controlled the race from the start until his engine failed on lap 25. Title rival Michael Schumacher finished 5th taking 4 points advantage from Räikkönen. Räikkönen finished 4th in France behind Schumacher but finished one point ahead of him with a 3rd place finish at the British Grand Prix. Räikkönen failed to finish the German Grand Prix after being involved in an accident at the first corner with Ralf Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello. Räikkönen finished 2nd at the next race, the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Prior to the Italian GP the FIA were tipped-off by rivals Ferrari about a tyre-illegality in the Michelin compounds. Michelin were forced to bring in other tyre compounds and it seemed as if they had lost the advantage they had been enjoying over Bridgestone all season. McLaren also announced that they would see out the season with old MP4-17D chassis and would not bring out the MP4-18 as had been announced earlier. Räikkönen eventually finished 4th in the race, losing five championship points to race winner Michael Schumacher.
Räikkönen took pole at the US GP, but Michael Schumacher won the race with Räikkönen finishing 2nd. With one race to go, Schumacher only needed one point to win the championship. Räikkönen would need to win the next race with Schumacher not scoring any points. After qualifying 8th in Japan, Räikkönen finished 2nd while Michael Schumacher just slipped into the points to win his 6th World Championship. Montoya's retirement during the race also meant that Räikkönen finished 2nd in the championship, just two points behind Schumacher. The team also narrowly lost second place in the constructors' championship, finishing third, two points behind runners-up Williams, and 12 points behind Ferrari. Mathematically, Williams or McLaren could have won the championship at the very last race. Season 2003 was one of the closest in recent years.
2004
The 2004 season began with Räikkönen only claiming a single point in the first seven races. His McLaren, especially the Mercedes engine, suffered repeated breakdowns, allowing him to complete just two of the first seven events. After seven rounds Räikkönen had only one point to Michael Schumacher's 60. In Canada, Räikkönen made 5 pit-stops but was classified 5th since the Williams-BMWs and the two Toyotas were disqualified. At the US GP Räikkönen finished 6th.
At the French GP, McLaren rolled out the new MP4-19B. Räikkönen finished 7th behind his team-mate David Coulthard. At Silverstone Räikkönen took pole and went on to finish second to Michael Schumacher. Following on from this encouraging display, the McLarens locked the 2nd row of the grid at Hockenheim, Germany. Both cars got off to a good start, however Räikkönen lost his rear wing on lap 13 of the race while following race leader Michael Schumacher. He would retire again from the Hungarian GP after starting from 10th place on the grid, again on lap 13. At the Belgian Grand Prix Räikkönen qualified 10th, but took the lead on lap 11 and held on to it to take McLaren's first and only win of the season. The next weekend at Monza Räikkönen again retired on lap 13, this time due to electrical problems. At the next race in China he finished 3rd, only 1.4 seconds behind race winner Rubens Barrichello.
At Japan, Räikkönen was shunted by Felipe Massa on the first lap of the race, which caused him handling problems. He later managed to make up some ground: finishing 6th, 2.5 seconds behind Alonso. At Brazil, he overtook pole sitter Barrichello, even before they had reached Curva De Sol. Räikkönen later battled Montoya for the lead and finished 1 second behind him in 2nd. Räikkönen ended the year seventh, with 45 points, only one behind sixth placed Jarno Trulli, and four podiums.
Despite the disappointment of the 2004 season, Räikkönen was still seen as one of the rising stars of the sport, along with Renault's Alonso and 2005 McLaren teammate Montoya. Many pundits predicted 2005 to be filled with great on-track battles from a resurgent team. He was also referred to by Ross Brawn and Jean Todt as a driver whom Ferrari might consider in the future. In early November 2004, Räikkönen announced his intention to create a racing team with his manager Steve Robertson, to be entitled Räikkönen Robertson Racing (otherwise known as "Double R"), which would compete in Formula 3 in 2005.
2005
Räikkönen's start to the 2005 season season was less than perfect. The car was reported to be too soft on its Michelin tyres, with the result that it wasn't generating enough heat to post competitive qualifying times.[1] The best qualifying position that a McLaren driver could manage in the first 3 races was 6th. Räikkönen compounded this by stalling on the grid of the first race of the season, the Australian Grand Prix, and ending the race with just a point. He looked set for a podium in Malaysia until a faulty tyre valve failed and dropped him out of the points. Bahrain saw him get his first podium of the season.
Räikkönen then achieved three consecutive poles at San Marino, Barcelona and Monte Carlo. An almost certain win was denied at Imola after a driveshaft failure, but he won the other two races, putting him within 22 points of leader Alonso. At the European Grand Prix, Räikkönen flat-spotted his right front tyre while lapping Jacques Villeneuve (some commentators put a share of the blame on Villeneuve, as he did not give Räikkönen the racing line). The resultant vibrations caused his suspension to fail while he led on the final lap, and sending him into the tyre wall and handing a further ten points to his rival Alonso. Changing a tyre would have given him a relatively safe third place. However, tyre changes were only allowed in 2005 in cases where a "punctured or damaged tyre" could be changed for "clear and genuine safety reasons"[2] and there was no precedent for whether the stewards would consider a flat-spotted tyre dangerous enough. This incident, in part, resulted in a rules clarification allowing teams to change a flat-spotted tyre without punishment.[3]
Alonso's first major mistake of the 2005 season handed the Canadian Grand Prix to Räikkönen. The following weekend saw all the Michelin teams, including McLaren, withdraw from the United States Grand Prix due to safety concerns. At the French Grand Prix Räikkönen suffered a ten-place grid-penalty following the replacement of his new specification Mercedes Benz engine which failed in Friday practice. Räikkönen, putting in what Ron Dennis would call his best ever qualifying lap,[4] qualified 3rd (demoted to 13th) with a significant fuel load. He finished 2nd behind Fernando Alonso. A week later at the British Grand Prix Räikkönen suffered another Mercedes engine failure due to an oil leak; his 2nd place qualifying place became 12th. He claimed 3rd place in the race.
In the German Grand Prix Räikkönen was comfortably in the lead having dominated all weekend, but suffered a hydraulics failure, handing victory and a further 10 points to Alonso. It was his third retirement while leading a race during the season. On all 3 occasions, it was championship rival Alonso who took advantage to win. Significantly, at the opening of the Hungarian Grand Prix, though saying he was very comfortable at McLaren, Räikkönen raised the possibility that he may leave McLaren when his contract expired in 2006 if reliability issues were not solved.[5] He told a news conference, "We need to work in a better way just to make sure that the car is very reliable." However he went on to take the chequered flag with a convincing victory over Michael Schumacher.
Räikkönen also achieved an impressive statistic at the Hungarian Grand Prix by managing to win the race from the most handicapped qualifying position, having had to do his qualifying run first on the notoriously dusty and dirty track due to his early retirement a week earlier at Hockenheim. No other driver had previously managed this feat under the controversial grid qualification system which significantly penalised those who retire from a race. Räikkönen then became the first ever winner of the Turkish Grand Prix. Two weeks later at the Italian Grand Prix, Räikkönen's pole position was taken from him as he received another 10-position grid penalty for an engine change. It would emerge that he had 5 laps of fuel more than teammate Montoya and 6 more than Alonso during qualifying - and still managed to outpace them. Just when it looked like McLaren had pulled off a strategic coup with Räikkönen on a one-stop strategy, his left-rear tyre delaminated, and was forced to take an extra stop to change the tyre. He dropped down to 12th. He recovered, but spun his car after pushing too hard chasing the 3rd placed driver. He eventually finished fourth.
He went on to win, for the second year in a row, at the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps. The following race (the Brazilian Grand Prix) saw Alonso clinch the Drivers' Championship, after finishing third behind Montoya and Räikkönen. In the penultimate race of the year, at the Suzuka circuit in Japan, Räikkönen produced arguably the best drive of his career, taking his 7th victory of the season after starting 20th on the grid (as rain, and an engine failure for Räikkönen, had mixed up the qualifying grid). The win was secured when he overtook Renault driver Fisichella (who had started third on the grid, and had led most of the race) on the final lap - which Formula One journalist Peter Windsor thought the most impressive move of the race.[6]
Räikkönen received the ''F1 Racing'' "Driver of the Year" accolade.[7] and Autosport[8].
2006
Räikkönen testing for McLaren at Valencia in early 2006.
In Bahrain, Räikkönen suffered electronic problems during Friday practice and a rear suspension break during the first qualifying session, which forced him back to 22nd place on the grid. Nevertheless he drove through the field, ending third behind Alonso and Michael Schumacher. In Malaysia, Räikkönen was hit from behind by Red Bull Racing's Christian Klien on the very first lap. The impact caused a left rear suspension failure resulting in Räikkönen retiring from the race.
Having started the year clearly behind Renault, McLaren improved in Australia, where Räikkönen finished second after flat spotting a tyre and losing a wing end-plate, causing him to fall off the pace somewhat around the midpoint of the race. Chasing down Alonso during the final stages of the race, he did however achieve the fastest lap of the race on the final lap, finishing only 1.8 seconds behind the Spaniard. At the San Marino Grand Prix a bad choice of strategy and a mistake from Räikkönen in qualifying (8th) saw the McLarens get caught in traffic in the early part of the race allowing Michael Schumacher and Alonso to get away at the front. Räikkönen eventually finished 5th, with team mate Montoya ahead in 3rd place. McLaren team boss Ron Dennis blamed Kimi Räikkönen's poor performance for the team's failure to finish in the top two in the race.[9]
Räikkönen testing for McLaren at Silverstone in April 2006.
The British Grand Prix at Silverstone saw Räikkönen qualify second behind Alonso and in front of Michael Schumacher. The running order was Alonso, Räikkönen, Schumacher until the second set of pitstops where Räikkönen was demoted to third by Schumacher, a position he held until the end of the race. At Canada, Räikkönen achieved another podium. In the United States Grand Prix, his teammate punted him out in an expensive seven car accident. The 2006 French Grand Prix saw Räikkönen qualify his car in sixth. His teammate was now former test driver Pedro de la Rosa in place of Montoya. Räikkönen ended the race in fifth. In Germany Räikkönen qualified on pole. After a battle with Button, he finished the race for the first time in his career, ending in third place. Another pole came in Hungary but he collided with Vitantonio Liuzzi after 25 laps, causing his fourth retirement of the season.
A first turn incident with Scott Speed at the Turkish Grand Prix led to an exploded tyre and suspension damage. After a tyre change, Räikkönen's race ended half way into the next lap when he ran into the barricade at turn 4. Räikkönen qualified on pole for the Italian Grand Prix, snatching pole from Michael Schumacher by 2 thousandths of a second right at the end of qualifying. He led the early part of the race until the first pitstops where he was passed by Michael Schumacher. He stayed in second place for the rest of the race. After the race Schumacher announced that he was retiring. Later Ferrari announced that he would be replaced in the 2007 season by Räikkönen.[11]
The Chinese Grand Prix saw another retirement for Räikkönen due to engine problems. His last two Grands Prix, those of Japan and Brazil, did lead to 2 finishes, but twice missed the podium. After Brasilian Grand Prix he ended his McLaren-Mercedes era with a fifth place in the World Drivers' Championship, with McLaren placing third in the World Constructors' Championship at the end of a winless year.
Räikkönen's British Formula Three Championship team Räikkönen Robertson Racing claimed their first major success, with British driver Mike Conway winning the 2006 British F3 International Series title and the prestigious Macau Grand Prix.
Ferrari (2007—present)
Räikkönen won his third race of at Silverstone.
After the 2006 Italian Grand Prix, Ferrari announced that Räikkönen had signed a three-year contract with Scuderia Ferrari for the 2007-2009 seasons. Räikkönen said after the move that he was very happy with this change of events but wished McLaren the best of luck in the future. He became the team mate to Brazilian Felipe Massa, who had been driving for Ferrari since 2006. As such, Räikkönen got the number 6 car while Massa inherited Schumacher's #5. Following the retirement of Michael Schumacher and his new deal with Ferrari, Räikkönen is estimated to be the highest paid driver in F1, with a base salary reportedly worth US $51M annually.[12]
Räikkönen started the season in Australia by taking pole position, setting the fastest lap and becoming the first driver since Nigel Mansell in 1989 to win his first Grand Prix with Ferrari. This was the first time in his career that he had managed the hat-trick of pole position, fastest lap and race victory. At the 2007 Malaysian Grand Prix Räikkönen was passed by Lewis Hamilton at the start and remained behind him for the rest of the race, finishing third. In the Bahrain Grand Prix, Räikkönen started from third but was passed by McLaren driver Fernando Alonso. He eventually regained 3rd position from Alonso and finished the race 3rd. At the Spanish Grand Prix Räikkönen retired after only 10 laps with an electrical problem. This took him down to fourth position in the championship behind team-mate Felipe Massa. In qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix Räikkönen struck a barrier and broke his right front suspension. He started 16th and finished 8th.
Räikkönen at the 2007 Australian Grand Prix, where he won on his debut for Ferrari
In Canada Räikkönen qualified fourth and finished fifth after battling with Alonso for the place, until the final safety car intervention came and Alonso lost his grip and was overtaken by Takuma Sato in the final corner. Räikkönen's team-mate Massa was disqualified.[13]
At the United States Grand Prix, Räikkönen qualified fourth and finished fourth where he recorded fastest lap of the race.
In France Räikkönen qualified third, but overtook Lewis Hamilton at the first corner of the race. He subsequently ran second, behind team-mate Felipe Massa, for much of the Grand Prix, but overtook the Brazilian via the pit-stops and took his second victory of the season. This was the 11th victory of his Formula One career, as well as Ferrari's first 1-2 win of the 2007 season.[14]
At the British Grand Prix, Räikkönen qualified in second place, just missing the pole due to running wide in the last corner. In the race, Räikkönen again took the lead through pit stops, first overtaking Lewis Hamilton midway through the race and then putting in fast laps as Fernando Alonso pitted for the second time in the closing stages, thus overtaking Alonso and maintaining lead of the race until the end.[15] He also set the fastest lap of the race.
At the European Grand Prix he captured his second pole position of the season, but on race day he retired on lap 35 because of a problem with the hydraulics of the car. In Hungary, he qualified his car in 4th place, but started from 3rd after Alonso was given a penalty. In the race Räikkönen overtook Nick Heidfeld at the start and pressurised Lewis Hamilton until the end of the race, but had to settle for 2nd. Also, he set the fastest lap time at the last lap of the race which is an unexpected situation for most of the GP's. He said the press after the race "I was so bored behind Hamilton, I wanted to see how quick I could have been"
In Turkey he qualified his car in 3rd place after being the fastest man at the track in the practice sessions. He missed pole position after making a mistake in the final sector of his fast lap. On race day he overtook Lewis Hamilton in the first corner of the race and took 2nd place, he kept this place to the end of the race. He also took fastest lap with 1.27.295, while his teammate Felipe Massa was seven tenths slower but took the victory. This was Ferrari's 2nd 1-2 victory of the season after the French GP.
At Monza's third practice session, Kimi dramatically crashed into the tyre wall before entering Ascari chicane. He qualified in 5th place, and will be racing in the Ferrari T-car.In the race, he overtook Nick Heidfeld at the start. After Felipe Massa's retirement he sat into 3rd place. Ferrari's surprise for the race was one-stop strategy for Kimi which is unusual for competitive teams. Strategy worked for passing Hamilton after his 2nd stop but he could not defend himself against Lewis's attack through the first corner. His used harder tyres were disadvantegous against Lewis's fresh softer tyres. He finished 3rd, Lewis 2nd and Fernando 1st. He was the first driver to get on podium, with a T-car in the history.
Results and records
Complete Formula One results
() (Races in 'bold' indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
''
★ ''Season in progress.
Formula One records
Räikkönen's helmet as used during the 2007 Australian Grand Prix.
★ Räikkönen holds the joint record of 7 wins in a single season without winning the World Title (2005), shared with four time World Champion Alain Prost, who initially set the record in 1984 and matched it in 1988, and also with Michael Schumacher, in 2006.
★ In the 2005 season, he also equalled Michael Schumacher's record of 10 fastest race laps in a season, set in 2004.
★ He currently holds the sixth highest record for total fastest laps at 24 (jointly with Niki Lauda), thus making him the highest ranked driver still active. (Up to and including the 2007 Italian Grand Prix)
★ He is the first driver to win on his Ferrari debut since Nigel Mansell at the 1989 Brazilian Grand Prix and the first to win, set the fastest lap and Pole Position on his Ferrari debut since Juan Manuel Fangio.
★ He is currently the highest paid driver in Formula One.[12]
See also
★ Famous Finns
★ The Flying Finns
References
1. Autosport.com – The 2005 Teams Review
2. BBC Sport – Coulthard condemns F1 tyre rules
3. Pitpass.com – FIA clarifies tyre ruling
4. Telegraph - Alonso puts smile on French faces
5. ITV - Kimi: Don't take me for granted
6. ITV - Peter Windsor's Chinese GP Preview
7.
Awards of F1 Racing magazine
8. Raikkonen pips Alonso to British award
9. McLaren downplay Ferrari victory
10. Sporting Lige - Schumacher: Title Race Open
11. Formula1.com – Ferrari confirm Räikkönen, Massa for ‘07
12. Forumula1.net - Räikkönen now highest paid driver in F1
13. Canadian Grand Prix Benson, Andrew
14. French GP Croft, David
15. British Grand Prix 2007 Benson, Andrew
16. Forumula1.net - Räikkönen now highest paid driver in F1
External links
★ Kimi Räikkönen Official Site
★ Kimi Räikkönen statistics
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