Patience, consistency and experience: a class drive from the Kimster. A class drive from the Kimster in Bahrain.

At 39, Alfa Romeo Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen is a man who simply wants to get out on track and race to his heart’s content. And the pleasure of driving has reflected on Kimi’s performance in the opening two rounds of the 2019 Formula One season

A strong eighth in Australia was followed by seventh in Bahrain, leaving him sixth in the overall standings after two races with only a Red Bull, two Ferraris and two Mercedes in front of him. Given the small margins between the midfield teams, Alfa Romeo Racing look to have played a blinder by signing the world champion. As things stand he could deliver points for them regularly, as opposed to teammate Antonio Giovinazzi, who looks to be struggling in the first part of the 2019 Formula One season.

The midfield was competitive last year, but this year it is anyone’s game. One mistake could send you back to 14th place but mistakes were not in the veteran’s vocabulary this year. Showing what experience can do, Kimi Raikkonen delivered a brilliant result for the Alfa Romeo team. One of the most brilliant parts of Kimi’s racecraft at the Bahrain International Circuit last weekend is not his overtaking (although on lap 34, the Finn was charging up the pack after his pitstop when he came across the two Toro Rosso drivers. What followed next was an epic display that showed that inspite of his age, Kimi Raikkonen never lost that spark in him) or defending, but his patience.

Like a wily old fox, you watch him waiting and waiting for the fights in front to fall apart and time after time you see the Finn leap in, taking advantage of the stragglers around him. A class drive from the Kimster in Bahrain.