Early Career
Kimi-Matias Raikkonen was born on 17 October 1979 in Espoo, Finland. He participated as a junior driver in karting at the age of 10 and has claimed several victories since then. Kimi Raikkonen competed in a race outside of his home country in Monaco for the first time. He took first place in the Nordic Championships held in Norway in 1998. Raikkonen secured a second-place position in the European Formula A Championship in 1999. He won the British Formula Renault Series when he was twenty, and the next year he won seven out of ten races in total.
Kimi Raikkonen Formula one Career (2001-2009)
1) Sauber (2001)
In 2001, Kimi participated as a racer for Sauber and earned his first point while racing at the Australian Grand Prix. It was quite gratifying for him to finish the season with overall nine points despite eight finishes and four points earned in races.
2) McLaren (2002–2006)
He then competed for McLaren in 2002, where he secured the third position in the opening race of the Australian Grand Prix. In France, Kimi came into the Grand Prix with a potential victory but had an off-track accident. He competed in several races and ended up finishing in sixth place overall.
Kimi Raikkonen finished in second place at the San Marino Grand Prix. He began the Spanish Grand Prix from the back of the grid after a mistake in qualifying. It was very close for him to win in Monaco, but he missed it by less than a second. In Canada, he lost track during qualifying and started from the pitlane. However, he won the pole at the European Grand Prix.
Despite finishing fourth behind Michael Schumacher in France, Raikkonen took third place during the British Grand Prix, edging him by one point. After an accident during the German Grand Prix, Raikkonen could not finish. His next race was the Hungarian Grand Prix, where he finished second.
In 2003, Raikkonen secured pole standings in the USA series and finished the race in the second position. At the Japanese Grand Prix, he qualified eighth and finished second. He participated in a total of sixteen races and was only able to secure the first position in one. Kimi ended the season with ten podium positions and ninety-one points in total.
Kimi Raikkonen only scored one point in the first seven races of the 2004 season. In the US Grand Prix, he placed sixth. Raikonnen won pole position at Silverstone and finished second behind Michael Schumacher. He could not finish the German Grand Prix due to the loss of his rear wing. His next race was in China, where he finished third. In the final race of the season, the Brazilian Grand Prix, he came in second. Raikkonen completed the year in 7th place with 45 points and 4 podium finishes.
In Bahrain, Raikkonen had issues with his electronic system during practice, and his rear suspension broke unexpectedly during qualifying, forcing him to start at the rear of the grid. He qualified ninth for the Spanish Grand Prix but moved up to fifth place after his first lap. Kimi qualified 3rd for the Monaco Grand Prix. He qualified second for the British Grand Prix, behind Fernando Alonso, but was demoted to third for the rest race.
Kimi Raikkonen won another podium in Canada. He was involved in an expensive seven-car accident with his teammate at the US Grand Prix. Another pole came in Hungary, but a collision led to his fourth retirement. Once again, in the Chinese Grand Prix, he retired due to throttle problems. He competed in both the Japanese and Brazilian Grands Prix but missed the podium in both races. Kimi finished fifth in the World Drivers’ Championship during his McLaren-Mercedes tenure.
3) Ferrari (2007–2009)
At the beginning of the season in Australia, Raikkonen took pole position, set the fastest lap, and became the first driver to win a Grand Prix for Ferrari. He finished third in Bahrain after being passed by Fernando Alonso of McLaren. Due to an electrical issue, he retired from the Spanish Grand Prix. In Canada, he finished in fifth place. He qualified fourth for the US Grand Prix and finished fourth, setting the race’s fastest lap.
Raikkonen qualified third in France, but Hamilton took the lead at the first corner. He won pole position in the European Grand Prix for the second time but retired due to an issue with his car’s hydraulics. He left himself third on the grid following a mistake in Turkey, which caused him to miss pole position. Kimi crashed into the wall during Monza’s third practice session. His fourth victory of the season happened at Spa-Francorchamps, where he once again achieved pole position.
Raikkonen qualified in third place and finished third in the Fuji Speedway race in Japan. He set the fastest laps all weekend at the Chinese Grand Prix. The victory in the Brazilian Grand Prix led to Kimi winning the Formula One Drivers’ title for 2007. Further, he took the top spot in the standings and tied the championship title with 110 points.
The Malaysian Grand Prix was his first win of the 2008 season, beating Heikki Kovalainen and Robert Kubica. Raikkonen started fourth on the grid in Bahrain but moved up to second on lap three and finished third. He won the first pole of his career in Spain for the first time in 2008. He collided with one of his competitors at the Turkish Grand Prix but still achieved the fastest lap and finished third. With 75 points, Raikkonen finished third in the drivers’ championship.
The opening race at Australia got him a fifteenth-place standing. Raikkonen qualified 9th in Malaysia ahead of Sebastian Vettel and finished 14th due to heavy rain. The Ferrari driver finished sixth in Bahrain and scored Ferrari’s first points of the season. In the Spanish Grand Prix, he suffered a hydraulic failure and retired. Towards the end of the season, he only managed to secure one win at the Belgian Grand Prix. With only 48 points, he placed sixth in the overall standings.
Kimi Raikkonen Leave Formula One (2010–2011)
Kimi Raikkonen announced he would be leaving Ferrari at the end of the 2009 season. In November 2009, Raikkonen’s manager, Steve Robertson, announced Raikkonen would not race in Formula One in 2010. There was also speculation during 2010 that Raikkonen would return to the Renault team in 2011.
Kimi Raikkonen Return to Formula One (2012–2021)
1) Lotus (2012–2013)
Kimi Raikkonen, who announced he was returning to Formula 1 in November 2011, has signed a two-year contract with Lotus. His season started with a 17th place qualifying position for the Australian Grand Prix, which ended in seventh after a mistake. In Bahrain, he finished second after starting from 11th position. After qualifying 6th, he finished 5th at the British Grand Prix. He participated in twenty races in 2012 and placed first only in the Abu Dhabi series.
The Lotus team confirmed in October 2012 that Raikkonen would race for the team in 2013. Even though he started seventh, the Australian Grand Prix was his first victory of the season. After qualifying second at the Chinese Grand Prix, he finished second after Sergio Perez. In Bahrain, he qualified 9th, but after Lewis Hamilton was penalized, he moved up to 8th. Despite achieving 183 points in the championship, he was dissatisfied with his performance.
2) Return to Ferrari (2014–2018)
Raikkonen signed a two-year contract with Ferrari at the end of 2013. It was revealed that he left Lotus due to financial concerns.
With a good strategy and a few fastest laps, Raikkonen gained fourth place in Belgium, his best result of the season, following a mostly disappointing first half of the season. The 2014 season ended with him as the 12th driver in the Drivers’ Championship. In 2015, Rainikkonen stayed with Ferrari, driving alongside former world champion Sebastian Vettel.
Raikkonen was forced to retire in Australia because of a loose wheel in the season’s first race. His performance in China and Malaysia improved after that mishap. During the season’s next race in Barcelona, he wasn’t happy with the setup of his car. Despite that, he was able to finish in fifth place after a strong opening lap. After a serious crash during the Austrian Grand Prix, he and Fernando Alonso were unharmed. The Ferrari team announced the extension of Raikkonen’s contract on 19 August.
In Australia, Raikkönen was forced to retire because of an airbox fire. Nonetheless, he finished second in Bahrain. He finished third at the Russian Grand Prix after a major collision at the start, which resulted in the retirement of his teammate Sebastian Vettel. After finishing second behind Max Verstappen in the Spanish Grand Prix, Kimi clinched a third podium of the season. Kimi ended the season in the sixth position with 186 points.
In 2017, Raikkonen finished 4th in Australia, 5th in China, and 4th in Bahrain. Afterwards, he finished third at the Russian Grand Prix, earning his first podium. He was involved in an incident on the first lap of the Spanish Grand Prix and retired from the race. Kimi took the first pole position at the Monaco Grand Prix in 129 races. He struggled with brake problems in Canada and finished seventh. The Azerbaijan Grand Prix saw him qualify third, but he had an oil leak during the race and had to abandon. His next race was in Austria, where he finished fifth.
As of August 2017, Raikkonen had renewed his contract with Ferrari to compete in 2018. He qualified 2nd and placed 3rd at the first race in Australia. At the Bahrain Grand Prix, he was slowed down by traffic, but he finished third at the Chinese Grand Prix. In the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Kimi finished second following an incident with Esteban Ocon on the first lap. Toward the end of the season, he suffered an electrical failure that forced him to retire from the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. He secured the third position in the final standings with 251 points overall.
3) Alfa Romeo (2019–2021)
Raikkonen announced in September 2018 that he was leaving Ferrari at the end of the season to join Sauber for two years. Before the summer break, he scored 31 points, which placed him eighth in the Drivers’ Championship. It would have been easy for him to score points in Belgium, but Max Verstappen hit him, preventing him from scoring points. He finished the season with 43 points, ranking him 12th in the standings.
Alfa Romeo Racing retained Kimi Raikkonen for the 2020 season. He scored points twice in the season, finishing ninth in the Emilia Romagna GP and the Tuscan Grand Prix. With an eighth-place finish in Turkey, he achieved the best qualifying result for the team. He moved up to 16th in the drivers’ standings with four points, ahead of his teammate Giovinazzi.
Kimi Raikkonen continued to work with Alfa Romeo alongside Antonio Giovinazzi in 2021. Raikkonen announced before the season began that he would retire at the end of the year. He opened the season with a point in Azerbaijan and added more in Russia, Hungary, and Mexico. In Abu Dhabi, he had a wheel nut issue that forced him to retire on lap 25. He had ten points, 16th overall, at the end of the season.