A Finn with Wings

The fastest Finn on the planet, Kimi Raikkonen plies his trade for the Ferrari team on the Formula One Circuit. Known to set the track on fire, this 29-year old is one person who will seldom back down from a fight, pushing his machine to the limit, sometimes even beyond it(read Technical Failure),in order to win. To appreciate his mental toughness one needs to just look at the 2006-2007 F1 season, when ‘Iceman’, as he is fondly called by his fans, came from behind to pip Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso to the F1 driver championship by a solitary point. Iceman has since been heaped with praise from the driver he replaced at Ferrari, Michael Schumacher and has earned a substantial amount of respect from his peers.

Tryst with Destiny

Kimi began his F1 career at Sauber Petronas where he was made a regular driver in 2001.Sauber’s then boss Peter Sauber was apparently impressed by this rookie from the Formula Renault UK Championship. So despite some heavy criticism, notably from Max Moseley(FIA President) for granting a F1 Super License to such a young and inexperienced driver, Kimi Raikkonen was officially granted a license to test the F1 circuit. Alongside his Sauber partner, Nick Heidfeld, Kimi managed to score an unexpected nine championship points in his debut season, propelling Sauber to a best result of Fourth in the Constructor’s Championship. The very next year, he moved to McLaren-Mercedes, despite being heavily linked for a switch to Sauber’s engine providers, Ferrari. At McLaren, Kimi replaced another famous Finn driver, Mika Hakkinen. It was during the course of the next three years that Kimi underlined his credentials as a serious Title Contender. The first season in the McLaren-Mercedes machine seemed to be a good one for ‘The Kimster’ as he won his maiden Grand Prix at Magny-Cours, France

2003 marked the arrival of Kimi Raikkonen onto the big stage as he went on to finish the driver’s championship in second place, behind F1 legend Michael Schumacher. It was interesting to note that the McLaren team were using the inferior 2002 chassis throughout the season. Despite having an inferior machine Raikkonen went on to create a mathematical possibility to win the championship at the last race at Japan. Unfortunately for him, he narrowly missed out on creating probable history. Yet he was commended for making the 2003 seasons the closest in recent years.

Not One to Give Up On

The next season Kimi faced a number of Technical Failures with the McLaren machine as a result of which he plummeted to seventh in the driver championships. However Kimi came back with a bang the next season as he once again came within touching distance of the Championship crown, this time behind fellow rising-star Fernando Alonso of Renault.2006 ended as a pretty ordinary season for Kimi and McLaren as he finished fifth in the standings.2007 came and with it came a call from Ferrari as Kimi was recognized by the then most dominant team in the F1 team as the ideal replacement for the legendary Michael Schumacher.

Kimi signed a three year contract with Ferrari which earned him a base salary of $51 Million annually, making him the most highly paid driver in history. That year he overcame a 23 point deficit in the last 10 races to lift his maiden Driver’s Championship beating the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso by a single point.

A Summary

Kimi still sets the race tracks ablaze in his Ferrari setting the Fastest Lap in every alternate race but it seems that Technical Inferiority might see Ferrari find it difficult for the team to provide a race winning car to a born winner in Kimi Raikkonen However we can be rest assured that ‘Iceman’ has much to offer to the exciting world of F1 racing in the years to come.