"For me, the ideal would be to drive in Formula 1 and enjoy a normal life"

By Juha Päätalo in Spa-Francorchamps

When it comes down to it, who is Kimi Räikkönen?

Perhaps the fastest driver in Formula One racing at the moment? Maybe, but he is still probably not going to take the 2005 Drivers' World Championship, because his McLaren-Mercedes car has let him down too many times this season, while Fernando Alonso's Renault keeps on going and delivers podium positions to its driver with Swiss-watch regularity.

Or is Räikkönen "Finland's biggest A-list celeb"? Undoubtedly that, too. But this is a role Räikkönen would gladly surrender.

The biggest star in Finnish sport right now? Probably, yes. Aki Hintsa, the personal physician to the 25-year-old from Espoo regards Räikkönen as a once-in-a-century find: a sporting gold nugget the size of your fist.

"Räikkönen's ability to conceptualise three-dimensional space is quite out of this world. His test results are off the chart, quite the best I have ever seen", says Hintsa with more than an ounce of admiration in his voice.

Räikkönen just shrugs, however, as he sits in the pit area at the Spa track. He has no truck with test-results.

"Aki is a doctor and he doesn't know anything about driving", laughs Räikkönen during our interview.

"As long as I'm going fast in a car, I really don't think too much about what it is I'm seeing."

This is nevertheless precisely the response Hintsa expected Räikkönen to offer up. "Kimi is very reluctant to draw attention to himself. However, he is incredibly observant."

Räikkönen's way of thinking is very straightforward. When the conversation turns to Alonso and to the fact many consider him [Räikkönen] to be the faster driver of the two, Räikkönen finds little consolation in this.

"I want to win", he says. "And if somebody other than me wins the Drivers' World Championship, nothing that people think of me can change that. The driver who has the most points at the end of the season is the new champion. Simple as that."

(end of part I)