In spite of his publicity-shy nature, Kimi Raikkonen has been in the spotlight ever since his controversial arrival on the Formula One grid back in 2001.

Peter Sauber surprised the world of F1 when he announced that he had offered the 21-year-old Finn a race deal for the following season on provision that he was handed the necessary FIA superlicence.

Having competed in just 23 car races, Raikkonen became one of the least experienced drivers ever to enter F1, but immediately delivered impressive testing performances to justify the Swiss team's faith in him.

Earlier in his career, his international results in karting were the best ever achieved by a Finnish driver, and he went on to further impress by winning the 2000 British Formula Renault Championship after taking seven wins in 10 races.

Although he met with opposition from F1 drivers wary of accepting a driver on the grid with even less experience than Jenson Button the year before him, Raikkonen proved his critics wrong.

His debut season with Sauber was sensational, the apparently ice-cool youngster proving within just a handful of races that he was a special talent.

By the time Mika Hakkinen told McLaren boss Ron Dennis that he was thinking of taking a sabbatical in 2002, the race was on to sign the younger Finn.

McLaren and Ferrari both wanted his services, but Kimi was swayed by the fact that if he drove for Ferrari he'd be number two to Michael Schumacher while at McLaren he would be allowed to win.

His 2002 season was also electric, but an underpowered McLaren on less than perfect Michelins meant he was rarely able to challenge for the lead. Although he didn't outscore team-mate David Coulthard, he regularly outqualified him. It was only due to the team's very 'un-McLaren-like' poor reliability that he didn't finish any higher than sixth place overall with 24 points.

The low point of his year came when he led the French Grand Prix with two laps left before sliding wide on oil left by Allan McNish's retiring Toyota. Marshals had failed to put warning oil flags out and the Finn was left with the sight of Michael Schumacher squeezing past him and claiming his fifth world title in the process.

Yet his first win wasn't long in coming and with McLaren beginning the 2003 season in dominant fashion, Raikkonen took the chequered flag at the Malaysian GP, the second race of the campaign.

A string of podium finishes followed, and at the halfway stage of the campaign Raikkonen was leading the drivers' standings.

However, McLaren were falling behind both Williams and Ferrari at this stage and it was only Raikkonen's tenacity and ability to steadily accumulate points which kept him in the hunt.

The Championship fight went to the wire in Japan, but a win for Rubens Barrichello guaranteed another title for Ferrari team-mate Schumacher.

Hopes were high that Kimi could go one better in 2004 but the Finn was expressing concerns about their new MP4-19 chassis before the season had even started.

He was proved correct and McLaren went on to endure a woeful season. The team eventually unveiled a replacement, yet it was too late to save their season.

Still, the MP4-19B did restore some pride within the team and also enabled Kimi to score his second grand prix victory, a stunning drive at the Belgian GP which left Schumacher trailing in his wake.

2005 was a bitter-sweet season for Kimi during which he experienced the highest highs and the lowest lows.

While the Finn had the fastest car on the grid, it was unfortunately powered by a temperamental Mercedes engine. Despite seven grand prix wins and an additional five podium finishes, he eventually had to settle for second place behind Fernando Alonso in the Drivers' Championship.

Remaining with McLaren-Mercedes in 2006, the team had one more season to hand the World title to Kimi. They couldn't. In fact, they couldn't even hand him one single race win.

Despite claiming two pole positions and three fastest race lap times, the Finn struggled to get on the podium, claiming just six top-three finishers, none of which was a P1.

Raikkonen finished the year fifth in the Drivers' Championship and, his impending arrival at Ferrari having been announced at the Italian GP moments after Michael Schumacher's retirement, he departed McLaren at the end of the season.

He started 2007 with a bang, dominating the season-opening Australian GP.

But his form spluttered soon afterwards as he battled with both reliability gremlins and the occasional driver error.

He fought back in style at the French GP where he claimed his second win of the season, which he followed up seven days later with another in Britain.

A retirement in Germany saw his Championship challenge again lose momentum, although a string of six podium finishes, including two race wins, saw Raikkonen entering the last race of the season trailing Championship leader Lewis Hamilton by seven points.

And to the surprise of many, the Ferrari driver pulled it off - Raikkonen taking victory in the Brazilian GP with Hamilton able to finish only seventh.

However, Raikkonen's title defence proved less than impressive, a lack of pace - particularly in qualifying - begetting at times a lack of motivation.

Two wins the opening four races saw Raikkonen firmly in the hunt for the crown, however, his victory in Spain at the end of April would be his final win of the season.

Bad luck also played a part - Hamilton hit Raikkonen from behind in the pit lane at the Canadian GP, a broken exhaust cost him victory in France and the wrong call on tyres put paid to his hopes at Silverstone.

His performances improved after he reverted to an older version of Ferrari's F2008 late in the season but the general impression was that Raikkonen's driving lacked the spark of 2007.

Raikkonen eventually finished a disappointing campaign down in third place, Ferrari nevertheless extending his contract to the end of 2010.

[via Sky Sports]

Petri Nevalainen: The Iceman – A Portrait of Kimi Räikkönen
(Jäämies - Kimi Räikkösen henkilökuva)
Ajatus Kirjat 2008
224 pages
Cover design: Jenni Noponen
ISBN 978-951-20-7805-9
Excerpts from the book translated by Raymond Carter

A sunny day in 1987. Two fair-haired boys are tearing around with all kinds of motorised vehicles in the garden of a detached house in Espoo, just as they’ve done month on month and year on year. Their parents’ patience has at last run out, but with good intent. They don’t object to the boys’ driving, only to the fact that the grass always ends up like a ploughed field. Luckily, there’s a kart track nearby, and the Räikkönen boys are delighted to be given the chance to use it. This was the beginning of Kimi Räikkönen’s colourful journey to the upper echelons of the motor sport world. At the end of a long and twisting road shone the target - the much-sought-after first Formula One world championship, which Räikkönen achieved majestically in 2007 driving for the all-time legendary Ferrari brand. And there was certainly no lack of drama in that championship season. The excitement of the final race of the series in Brazil brought blood, sweat and tears to both Räikkönen and his fans. In the end, coming home first was a complete surprise - achieving it required many things to fall into place in just the right way. Time after time during that season, possibilities for taking the championship appeared to fade away, but the Finnish driver never lost faith.

(…)
His enthusiasm for karting, an expensive hobby, presented the Räikkönen family with a tough choice: home improvements and an inside toilet or another season on the track and in the outside loo? The decisive family meeting was held in a familiar location - around the kitchen table. The decision came down: postpone the improvements, continue with the outside loo and see how far Kimi could go in the summer season. When the younger brother at last began to earn significant amounts of money from his driving, the improvements finally got under way - not only in the loo, but in many other places as well. In March 2008, Räikkönen confirmed to a Guardian reporter that the outside toilet was still in use when he signed his first Formula One contract with the Sauber team in the year 2000. To urban Brits, an outside loo was something exotic and amazing. When the reporter asked him how on earth it was possible to use an outside toilet in sub-zero winter temperatures, Räikkönen had his answer ready.
“It’s easy, just be quick,” he said.

[via Ajaturskirjat]

You can read more here.

(…)
(Travelling with his good friend Kalle Jokinen, Räikkönen’s mechanic during his karting years)
The two of them set off to London in a battered Renault Clio for an agreed meeting with David Robertson. The location for the meeting was the Thistle Hotel in Brands Hatch. Robertson’s son Steve had himself been on the race track in 1990 (among other occasions) in the British F3 series during the so-called “Mika-Mika” year when the Finns Mika Häkkinen and Mika Salo had been fighting for overall victory in the competition. The Räikkönen/Jokinen conquest of the world looked as if it had come to a premature halt at the border crossing between Holland and France, when the vehicle’s Dutch number plates turned out to be a problem. The border guard waved his hand at the two Finnish passports and looked at the car.
“Those passports and this car. Hmmm… I’ve nothing that tells me whether you have permission to drive that vehicle,” he said. The two Finns had no choice but to turn the car around and set off back in the direction they‘d come, searching the map for other border crossing points.

(…)
People working close to them said that the Robertsons’ behaviour towards Räikkönen was akin to worship. It was difficult for them to say anything remotely negative about their protégé, whatever actually happened. This approach was perhaps based on the early stage of their relationship and the Renault Formula competition in which Räikkönen’s success was more the rule than the exception. On one occasion, when Kimi failed to gain pole position on the starting grid, the Robertsons investigated. They recalled that Räikkönen had taken a phone call just before the time trials. The party on the other end was eventually identified as Paula, Kimi’s mother, and the subject as a difference of opinion over his girlfriend of the moment. According to Räikkönen, he shouted at his managers, demanding that his private affairs should never again be interfered with in such a way. Although David Robertson was obviously only trying his best to find out whether something was wrong, Räikkönen was clearly upset about the way that things had been handled.

Petri Nevalainen: The Iceman – A Portrait of Kimi Räikkönen
(Jäämies - Kimi Räikkösen henkilökuva)
Ajatus Kirjat 2008
224 pages
Cover design: Jenni Noponen
ISBN 978-951-20-7805-9

Excerpts from the book translated by Raymond Carter

…)
Finland’s 2007 midsummer celebrations were just around the corner, and the Formula One drivers’ season was approaching its half-way point. The second part of the American section of the tour, the seventh race in the series, would take place at Indianapolis. Even though many distracting thoughts must have been running through Kimi Räikkönen’s mind in a location so far from home, he showed no external signs of this. But the wish to speak to his old friend Kalle Jokinen just wouldn’t go away. According to Jokinen, his mobile phone rang on that Indianapolis weekend while he was in a karaoke bar with friends. The caller was Räikkönen, who said that the team had a lot of work to do to build a car that would see off McLaren. Then Kimi obviously recognised from the background noise that his friend was not at work.
”Could you go and sing ‘Truck driver’ for me,” he said. “And leave the line open while you’re singing. It helps, because sometimes it’s a little lonely out here.” Jokinen did as he’d been asked and went off to perform Matti Esko’s version of Räikkönen’s favourite song at the top of his voice. Another of Kimi’s karaoke favourites is Kari Tapio’s ”Pole position” - for obvious reasons. Thanking his friend, Räikkönen said he’d get in touch later.

(…)

Räikkönen’s fans had to cope with an extra ration of nervousness as they followed the last laps and the battle between Nico Rosberg, Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld for 4th, 5th and 6th place. Even though they were only driving to beat each other, their final positions would have an effect on the struggle for the championship. Quite unexpectedly, they had been given the decider’s role in the bigger battle. While everyone was concentrating on Räikkönen and Hamilton, the fierce tussle between these three turned into the heart of the competition. On several occasions, it looked as if they would force each other off the circuit. Tyres were smoking and brakes were locking up, but the trio kept going. On this occasion, luck was at last on Räikkönen’s side. He won the race, and Hamilton was unable to do better than seventh position. After this incredible phase, this meant that Räikkönen became only the third Finn to win the world championship!

“It’s difficult to find any words,” he said after the victory. “My feelings are so strong.“

(…)
(Comment by Jean Todt)
”Kimi’s focus on the job he’s doing is absolute. He wants to succeed and has all the necessary motivation. He’s also normal in the sense that he’s not always happy with the way things are at any point in time. The team supports him in every way, and the results have been good, says Todt. According to him, Räikkönen did not make a single unnecessary complaint during the whole of the 2007 season.
“That’s how he’s made. He’ll open his mouth when it’s the right thing to do, and he doesn’t speak without good reason.
“He’s an easy guy to work with. He gets straight to the point and concentrates on the essence. He’s able to say “Yes” or “No” as the situation demands. For the team this is good, because his answers are always clear and they don’t have to wonder what the question might have been.

In the Formula One community on Bleacher Report, we strive to do our best to bring the best and most up-to-date information about a very complicated and very international sport.

In the midst of my research of all things Formula One, I discovered some very shocking facts about Kimi Raikkonen, even more shocking than that of his partying persona that many of us in the community have come to known him as.

I have discovered that Kimi Raikkonen is Santa Claus. That's right, the jolly fat man that visits every house once a year and here is my evidence to prove this case:

Santa is apparently from Finland – Kimi is Finnish
Santa doesn’t mind a drink, especially not on Christmas Eve – Well, it's certainly a no-brainer that Kimi doesn’t mind a drink at any time.
You never see Kimi just before Christmas, the time when Santa is getting ready for Christmas.
Kimi is one of the fastest drivers in the world, and we all know Santa has to be speedy getting round the whole world – surely this is a poignant factor.
Kimi wears red for his day job, Santa wears red for his job as well.
But many say that "Kimi is too toned to be Santa." Well, as you don’t see him just before Christmas, it is possible he could "bulk up" but there’s also things known as "fat suits"…
However, you never seem to see Kimi without his personal trainer for the rest of the year… it’s all a conspiracy!
According to In Gear magazine, Santa has an interest in cars, as does Kimi.
Children like Kimi and they like Santa too.

Finally, lots of people still believe in Santa, and lots believe in Kimi too.
If that doesn't convince you that Kimi Raikkonen is Santa Claus, then I don't know what will. I ask all readers to stay up on Christmas Eve in order to catch Kimi coming down the chimney.

[source]