Kimi Raikkonen (Kimi-Matias Raikkonen) is a Finnish Racing Driver who is leaving the Formula-1 Racing. We at Atyutka wish him a hearty farewell and all the very best in his life and future venture. He is another legend leaving with no regrets but we wish you could have been with F1 Racing for more time.
Raikkonen drove Car Number 7 for Alfa Romeo Racing, under the Finnish Flag from 2019 until he retired yesterday after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix of the season 2021. He is nicknamed as “The Iceman” who won the 2007 Formula One World Championship driving for Scuderia Ferrari, their last World Driver’s Championship.
Birth, Entry into Racing and Credentials
Kimi Raikkonen was born on the 17th October 1979 to Matti Raikkonen and Paula Raikkonen in Espoo, Finland. He has 21 Wins, 103 Podiums, 18 Pole Positions and 46 Fastest Laps to his credit in his racing career. His first entry into the Formula-1 was in the 2001 Australian Grand Prix and first win was in the 2003 Malaysian Grand Prix. In 2018 he last won the United States Grand Prix and ended his Formula-1 Racing Career in the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
With 103 Podium finishes, he is one of only five drivers to have taken over 100 Podiums. He is the only driver to win in the V10, V8 and the V6 Turbo Hybrid Engine Eras. He completed nine seasons in F1 Racing and left the sport to compete in the World Rally Championship in 2010 and 2011. But he returned to F1 Racing in 2012. He is well known for his reserved personality and he is very reluctant in participating in the PR Events. He broke the record for most starts in F1 Racing at the 2020 Eifel Grand Prix.
Forbes Magazine listed Raikkonen 36th in their 2008 “Celebrity 100” as the 26th highest paid celebrity and fifth highest paid sportsman.
Career Timeline
Raikkonen had a long line of success in Karting from the age of 10. He raced first outside Finland, in Monaco when he was 15 years ole. During the race, his steering wheel broke but he continued with the broken steering wheel. In the next Monaco race also he had an incident, thrown on the wrong side of the Safety Fence in the first lap but continued somehow and finished third. He was first in the Nordic Championship at Varna in Norway in the year 1998. He finished second in 1999 at the European Formula Super A Championship for the Dutch PDB Racing Team. Raikkonen won seven out of 10 events in the year 2000 in the Formula Renault UK Championship.
- Formula One (2001 to 2009) – Sauber in 2001, McLaren from 2002 to 2006, Ferrari from 2007 to 2009, Lotus 2012 to 2013, Ferrari again from 2014 to 2018 and Alfa Romeo Racing from 2019 to 2021
- Rallying – debut rally at Arctic Lapland Rally from 23rd to 24th January 2009
- NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing – in the summer of 2011
More details about Kimi Raikkonen
Read more about Kimi Raikkonen here
He mentioned that he is happy retiring from the Formula One racing that he can spend more quality time with his family which they are looking forward to for a long time. He doesn’t have any regrets taking this decision at this age. Watch the Interview with Kimi Raikkonen at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2021. Unfortunately he retired too early in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, ending his Formula One Racing Career due to a crash.
Watch videos on YouTube about Kimi Raikkonen
