Kimi Räikkönen

Kimi-Matias Räikkönen (born 17 October 1979), nicknamed "The Iceman", is a Finnish racing driver who competed in Formula One between 2001 and 2021 for Sauber, McLaren, Ferrari, Lotus, and Alfa Romeo.

In 1998 he was first in the Nordic Championship at Varna in Norway.

In 1999, Räikkönen placed second in the European Formula Super A championship for the Dutch PDB Racing Team – run by 1980 world champion Peter de Bruijn – utilising a Gillard chassis.

He also competed in the Formula Ford Euro Cup.

By the age of twenty, he had won the British Formula Renault winter series of 1999, winning the first four races of the year.

In 2000, he won seven out of ten events in the Formula Renault UK Championship.

Combined, over these two series of Formula Renault, he won 13 out of 23 events – a 57% win rate.

On the basis of these results, Peter Sauber gave the Finn a test with the Sauber Formula One team in September 2000 at the Mugello Circuit.

On just the second day of the test, Räikkönen lapped half a second quicker than regular driver Pedro Diniz.

Sauber had kept the news of his test quiet to distract potential competitors, internally referring to Räikkönen as "Eskimo".

After further tests in Jerez and Barcelona, Sauber signed Räikkönen for the season.

However, some critics (including FIA president Max Mosley) voiced concerns over granting an F1 Super Licence to such an inexperienced driver; Räikkönen had only 23 car races to his credit.

He was nevertheless granted his licence from the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) after a performance delivery promise by his team boss, Peter Sauber, and scored a championship point in his debut at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix.

He joined McLaren-Mercedes in, and quickly established himself as a title contender by finishing runner-up in the championship to Michael Schumacher in 2003, and Fernando Alonso in 2005.

Räikkönen won the 2007 Formula One World Championship while driving for Ferrari; he also managed to finish second overall twice and third three times.

Räikkönen is the most successful Finnish Formula One driver by several metrics, and has the sixth-most podium finishes (103), third-most fastest laps (46), and second-most race starts (349) in Formula One history.

He is known for his reserved personality and reluctance to participate in public relations events.

Räikkönen entered Formula One as a regular driver for Sauber-Petronas in, having previously competed in just 23 car races.

Räikkönen's time at McLaren was marred by a succession of unreliable cars, prompting a move to Ferrari in 2007.

This change saw him crowned Formula One World Drivers' Champion in his first season, pipping both McLaren drivers—Lewis Hamilton and Alonso—to the title by one point.

In 2008, he equalled the record for the greatest number of fastest laps in a season for the second time.

Forbes magazine listed Räikkönen 36th in their 2008 "Celebrity 100" as the 26th highest paid celebrity and fifth highest paid sportsman.

Räikkönen left both Scuderia Ferrari and the sport after the 2009 season, his sole victory that year having come in that season's Belgian Grand Prix due to driving an uncompetitive Ferrari F60.

The same list in 2009 recorded him as the second highest-paid athlete.

Räikkönen was born in Espoo, Finland.

He had a long line of success in karting from the age of 10.

His first race outside Finland was in Monaco when he was 15 years old.

During the race, the steering wheel broke, but he continued, informing his mechanic by frantically waving the steering wheel in the air on the home straight.

Räikkönen's next Monaco race was also memorable; he was thrown on the wrong side of the safety fence in a first lap collision but continued driving until running out of road.

Undeterred, he lifted his kart back onto the track and continued to race.

His mechanic thought Räikkönen had retired, but he eventually caught up with the other competitors and finished third.

In the World Rally Championship, Räikkönen drove Citroën cars for their Junior Team in 2010 and for ICE 1 Racing in 2011, managing to beat some more experienced rally drivers with a best result of fifth, a stage win and 10th in the championship in both seasons.

Concurrently, Räikkönen also competed in NASCAR, making one-off appearances in the Camping World Truck Series and the Nationwide Series in 2011.

Since retiring from Formula One, he has made appearances in the Cup Series in 2022 and 2023.

On his return to Formula One, Räikkönen drove for Lotus in 2012 and, scoring the team's only victories.

In September 2013, Ferrari announced his re-signing on a two-year contract, beginning in the season.

This contract was subsequently extended until the end of the 2018 season.

During his second Ferrari stint, Räikkönen scored 26 podiums, two pole positions, and a victory at the 2018 United States Grand Prix, 113 Grands Prix after his last victory.

Räikkönen finished among the top four overall in the championship on multiple occasions during his second Ferrari stint, finishing his total eight-year long Ferrari career with a third place in the 2018 championship.

Räikkönen left Ferrari at the end of the 2018 season, and moved to Alfa Romeo Racing on a two-year contract, later extending it until the end of, after which he retired from Formula One.