Kimi Räikkönen is in my opinion back where he belongs, the 2007 World Champion will be racing for team Lotus-Renault (formerly known as Renault) next season. Kimi left Formula 1 to pursue a career in rally driving before trying his hand at NASCAR racing. Astonishingly just before the Singapore Grand Prix Räikkönen announced that he would be returning to Formula 1 to race for Lotus-Renault next season, signing a contract that will keep him there for two years.
Let's take a look at his Formula 1 career spanning from 2001 to 2009. In 2001 Kimi Räikkönen was signed up to race for Sauber by Peter Sauber. Räikkönen in his first ever Formula 1 season managed to get nine points and along with Nick Heidfeld managed to get Sauber to 4th in the Constructor's Championship which was the highest place they have ever achieved at that time. After this impressive first season he was signed up to Ron Dennis' McLaren taking the place of two-time world championship and fellow Finn Mika Häkkinen (who was also Kimi's mentor).
Kimi Räikkönen spent four fantastic years at McLaren Mercedes from 2002 to 2006. In his first race in 2002 he finished 3rd at the Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne. During the year of 2002 McLaren were hindered by many mechanical problems leading to Kimi Räikkönen and his team mate David Coulthard finishing 3rd in the Constructor's Championship and 6th & 5th respectively in the Driver's Championship. Despite these problems Kimi Räikkönen could have won his first race at the French Grand Prix however on Adelaide corner some oil that was spilt from Alan McNish's Toyota led to Räikkönen going wide and allowing Michael Schumacher - of all people - through and to win resulting in Kimi Räikkönen finishing second.
In 2003 at the first race Räikkönen qualified 15th in the McLaren's spare car, he then went on to lead the race before having a penalty for speeding in the pit-lane. Räikkönen went on to finish 3rd. It was then in Malaysia that Räikkönen won his first race after starting 7th on the grid. At the next round in Brazil the race was stopped what seemed to be on the 55th lap giving Räikkönen the race victory, however evidence gained after the race showed that Fisichella was leading the race on lap 56 therefore giving him the race victory. The trophy was handed over from Räikkönen to Fisichella at the San Marino Grand Prix. Throughout the rest of the year McLaren had yet more mechanical problems but Räikkönen battled on. In the last race at Japan Räikkönen needed to win with Schumacher finishing outside the point scoring positions. Räikkönen qualified in 8th in the Grand Prix and managed to finish second, however Schumacher just scraped into the point scoring positions and won his 6th World Championship. Räikkönen finished 2nd in the Driver's Championship and McLaren finished 3rd, 12 points behind Ferrari and 2 points behind Williams.
In 2004 Räikkönen had a terrible start to the first 7 races of the calendar year. Räikkönen only managed to get 1 point from these 7 races. He was also hindered by McLaren's engine problems allowing him to start only 2 of the first 7 races. This was Räikkönen's most difficult year in my opinion due to unfortunate incidents such as engine problems and also crashing out of races during the early stages. Despite this, Räikkönen managed to salvage 45 points for McLaren and finished 7th in the Driver's Championship. Even though Räikkönen had a poor season he was still considered to be one of the sport's rising stars along with Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton. Räikkönen was also being labelled as someone who would drive for Ferrari as Räikkönen was referred to by Ross Brawn and Jean Todt.
2005 led Räikkönen to have another bad start to the season. According to McLaren the Michelin tires were too soft for their car and the best qualifying position a McLaren driver got in the first 3 races was 6th. After his terrible start to the first three races Räikkönen turned his form around by getting pole in the San Marion, Spain and Monaco. He picked up the first win of the season at Barcelona and then winning the Monaco Grand Prix after a safety car strategy called by Neil Martin. After this race the championship got interesting as 2 drivers were battling out for the Driver's Championship. At the European Grand Prix a flat spotted tyre wasn't deemed unsafe enough for replacement which ended up with Räikkönen crashing out on the last lap from 1st place hence giving Alonso another 10 points. Soon after this race the rules were changed so that a team could change a flat spotted tyre without infringement. In Canada, Alonso made his first mistake giving the race victory to Räikkönen. At the French Grand Prix Räikkönen was given a 10 place grid penalty, luckily for Räikkönen he managed to qualify a reasonable 3rd - meaning he started 13th on the grid. From this Räikkönen went on to finish 2nd behind Alonso. In the next race Räikkönen suffered an oil leak at the British Grand Prix resulting in another 10 place grid drop. From 12th he managed to finish 3rd. At the German Grand Prix Räikkönen was leading comfortably but a hydraulics problem forced him to retire handing his main title rival Alonso another 10 points. Three races in a row McLaren have had mechanical problems and on all three times Alonso capitalised meaning Räikkönen was losing ground in the Driver's Championship. Räikkönen pushed as hard as he could the final few races but it was all to no avail as Alonso took the Driver's Championship at Interlagos. Räikkönen went onto finish strong as he won the Japanese Grand Prix from 17th on the grid. At the end of the year Räikkönen won the F1 Racing "Driver of the Year" and the Autosport "International Racing Driver of the Year."
2006 was Räikkönen's final year at McLaren and it wasn't the best of seasons for the Finnish driver. The first few races weren't the best that Räikkönen has driven in his career. At Bahrain from 22nd he managed to finish 3rd, at Australia he finished second after losing a wing plate and driving with a flat spotted tyre and at the San Marino Grand Prix a bad strategy choice meaning Räikkönen could only qualify 8th and finishing 5th in the race. Ron Dennis blamed Räikkönen for what he thought was the problem to their poor early season form. The latter part of the season also proved difficult as Räikkönen had many retirements. At the end of this winless season for McLaren they managed to finish only 3rd in the Constructor's Championship and Räikkönen finishing 5th in the Driver's Championship. Räikkönen was to drive for Ferrari next season as Schumacher had stated at the Italian Grand Prix that he would be retiring from the sport and that Räikkönen was the replacement for this legendary driver.
In his debut season for Ferrari in 2007 Räikkönen proved the talent he had got deep inside his locker as he went on to win his first and only Formula 1 World Championship. In his first race at Melbourne Räikkönen took pole position and went on to win the race. Räikkönen at Melbourne was the first ever driver to get the hat-trick of pole position, fastest lap and race win. At Bahrain he was overtaken by Hamilton and managed to finish 3rd. At Spain he was forced to retire after 10 laps due to an electrical problem which put Räikkönen 4th in the Driver's Championship. A few more disappointing results put Räikkönen 26 points behind Hamilton with only 10 races left. In France Räikkönen regained his form and managed to win his 2nd race of the season. He then went onto win the next race at Silverstone after capitalising on the pit stop strategy. At Monza he managed to finish third in the reserve Ferrari car while driving with a bad neck which he got from a crash during the 3rd practice session. At his favourite Grand Prix - Spa Francorchamps - he secured pole position and went on to win the race. Räikkönen's fifth win of the season came at China after Hamilton slid into a gravel pit in the pit lane. This put Räikkönen only 3 points behind Alonso and Hamilton in the title race. The Brazil Grand Prix was a race which could give the title to one of three drivers, the first ever situation like this in Formula 1's long history. The race was action packed with the Driver's Championship swinging one way to another. In the end Massa's pit stop strategy ensured Räikkönen went on to win the Driver's Championship finishing only 1 point ahead of Alonso and Hamilton. His title victory was put in doubt after fuel irregularities in the cars of Nico Rosberg, Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld. If these drivers were disqualified Hamilton would have finished 4th however no sanctions were made. Despite an appeal from McLaren they were rejected meaning Räikkönen kept his world title.
2008 wasn't a good start as Räikkönen only managed to finish 8th in the Australian Grand Prix but regained his confidence with a win at the Malaysian Grand Prix. In Bahrain he finished 2nd putting Räikkönen back into the lead of Driver's Championship. After the Spanish Grand Prix Räikkönen become the highest ever ranked Finnish driver overtaking Mika Häkkinen in the list of total fastest laps and podiums. In Canada, Räikkönen was in the pit lane next to Kubica waiting for the red light to change. Hamilton who had just been released from his pit box didn't notice the red light and shunted into the back of Räikkönen's Ferrari. The next few races were disappointing as he only managed to finish in 4th, 6th at the next two races before retiring at the German Grand Prix. Yet again Räikkönen was forced to retire at the European Grand Prix due to a connecting rod in the engine. Due to poor results he was definitely out of the title race and at the Chinese Grand Prix he allowed his team-mate Massa to overtake him allowing Massa to challenge for the Driver's Championship. At the Brazilian Grand Prix Räikkönen finished 3rd after qualifying 3rd. Räikkönen only managed to finish 3rd in the Driver's Championship just ahead of the season's surprise package Robert Kubica.
2009 was Räikkönen's last in Formula 1 as he wanted to pursue a career in rally driving. At the first race of the season Ferrari were well behind the pace of Team Brawn and Räikkönen had to retire due to a differential problem. At Malaysia heavy rain forced the race to be stopped after 33 laps giving Jenson Button the race victory and Räikkönen being classified as 14th. Another disappointing result for Ferrari and Räikkönen. Räikkönen's season didn't get any better in the Chinese Grand Prix after complaining of power problems because he had finished behind his rival Lewis Hamilton. Retirements at Turkey and Germany didn't help him in the title race because his rival drivers were pulling away in the Driver's Championship. Hungary was the best finish for Ferrari and Räikkönen as they managed to get 2nd place in an action packed race. Räikkönen got his second podium in a row before being crowned "The King of Spa" due to his reputation of race victories in Belgium. Räikkönen's good form continued at Monza as he got his 4th consecutive podium but was still far behind in the Driver's Championship. Eventually his good form came to an end at Singapore as he could only manage a 10th place finish. Raikkonen's pace dwindled near the end of the year as he was racing what we could call an uncompetitive racing car. In the race at Abu Dhabi he qualified 11th and could only finish 12th. Near the end of the season Ferrari announced the news that Räikkönen would be retiring from Formula 1 to move on to pastures new. Rumours had it he would return to McLaren or even be driving for Toyota however he rejected all offers and decided he'd try his hand at rallying after the end of the 2009 season.
What a career Raikkonen has had, record breaking Finnish driver and also a World Champion. He deserved much more but reliability problems and lack of concentration in races denied him the chance to win a couple of World Championship titles. However he is still a fantastic driver and it's going to be great to see him race next season. Raikkonen is definitely capable of rekindling the form he had a few years ago and maybe can knock Sebastien Vettel off top spot. It's going to be a tough return for Raikkonen but let's hope he can get back to winning ways and do well at a sport he was born to do.
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