Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari’s last triumph
Every Ferrari fan holds Kimi Raikkonen close to their heart, as he brought the last Drivers’ Championship to Maranello thanks to a perfect end to the 2007 season and a series of events that played entirely in his favor in the battle against Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso.
Iceman’s title remains the last joy for Ferrari fans, who have been waiting 17 years for another Drivers’ Championship. What should have been the start of a new cycle instead turned out to be a premature swan song: after Interlagos 2007, Kimi Raikkonen won only six more races (four with Ferrari, two with Lotus), even taking a break from Formula 1 to compete in the World Rally Championship.
David Coulthard’s comments
A unique character, described by former McLaren teammate David Coulthard as follows: “He was a great natural talent. He went straight from Formula Renault to driving a Sauber at Mugello, one of the scariest circuits you can drive on in an F1 car,” he said on The Red Flags podcast.
Nevertheless, Iceman could have left a much greater mark in F1 history: “He had immense talent and won a World Championship. But if he had Michael Schumacher’s work ethic, he would have won more. Michael kept the engineers and mechanics accountable, both at the track and in the factory. He pushed them, and they understood him. That was the fuel that helped everyone improve.” – the former Red Bull driver concluded.
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