Born on the 17th of October, 1979, Kimi Raikkonen made his Formula 1 debut in the 2001 season, for the Sauber Formula One team and achieved four points-scoring finishes and eight finishes in the top eight during his first year, thus showing huge potential for a successful career at the highest level.
During 2002 and 2006 he raced for McLaren Mercedes, where he as able to capitalize his skill and talent. He won seven races in the 2005 season, fighting with Fernando Alonso of Renault for the championship title, but finishing second behind the Spanish driver due to the negative results in the first four races of the season.
2007 was the year Kimi joined Scuderia Ferrari for the first time, and the Finnish driver made exceptional debut by winning the Australian Grand Prix, after starting the race in pole position and finishing it with the fastest lap of the race, ahead of the two McLaren-Mercedes drivers Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton. After the next six races only recorded two third-place podium finishes, few people considered Kimi to be a contender for the championship fight, but the Finnish driver managed an incredible second part of the season, with five wins. The last race of the 2007 season will forever remain in the hearts and thoughts of all Ferrari fans after the incredible and emotional events that lead to the perfect outcome: by winning the Brazilian Grand Prix, ahead of his teammate Felipe Massa and helped by Lewis Hamilton’s poor race, Kimi became world champion, thus bringing the last Drivers’ title for the Scuderia up to date.
Raikkonen left Ferrari at the end of the 2009 season, but returned to Formula 1 in 2012, by joining Lotus F1 Team. Since 2014 the Finnish driver returned to Ferrari, but was unable to repeat the past performance, mainly due to the uncompetitive car from the first year. During the 2015 and 2016 seasons, Kimi managed seven podium finishes and many moments that reminded the fans of the world champion from his glorious years, but several technical problems, bad strategy calls or race incidents prevented him from scoring as many points as he would have deserved.
Kimi won his last race for Scuderia Ferrari at the 2018 United States Grand Prix, after starting from second position. The Finnish driver ended his Ferrari career with 151 Grand Prix starts, ten wins, seven pole positions and most importantly a Drivers’ Championship, before joining Sauber for the 2019 and 2020 Formula One seasons.
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