Raikkonen is one of F1's great enigmas. Supremely quick behind a steering wheel, he is positively ponderous when a dictaphone is thrust under his nose. But although he may be determinedly monosyllabic in interview, he can also let his hair down spectacularly when away from the circuit.

In 2005 he got into hot water with former team McLaren Mercedes after allegedly launching into his own strip show at Mayfair gentleman's club "For Your Eyes Only" and he has tried his hand at everything from snowmobiles to powerboats. He once won a powerboat race in the Finnish city of Hanko dressed in a gorilla suit under the pseudonym 'James Hunt', the 1976 world champion whose playboy lifestyle he is often accused of emulating.

Later this month Ferrari are letting him drive a Fiat Punto in the Arctic Lapland Rally. He admits it is an area he enjoys and would like to do more of. You get the idea.

[more via The Telegraph]

During the summer months, there were many rumors that Raikkonen was going to up and leave his current career for either something he was passionate about, or leave racing altogether

While many speculated as to his future, Ford M-Sport director Malcolm Wilson even offered Raikkonen a testing session in the Ford Focus WRC car.

In June 2008, Bleacher Report Analyst James Walker wrote an article regarding a possible future for Raikkonen in rally racing.

Raikkonen has admitted that he still has not competed seriously in a rally, but in an interview with Fox Sports stated, "at some time, I want to try rallying. That interests me."

Now with Raikkonen entering into his first rally, with countryman Mikka Hakkinen, a future in rallying may be very real.

With his deal with Ferrari ending after the 2009 season, Kimi's admitted lack of interest in the series may compound to a switch into the World Rally Championship (WRC) or up-and-coming Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC).

[via BleacherReport]

Kimi Raikkonen has said he is keen to put his disappointing 2008 campaign behind him and focus his attention instead on winning this year's World Championship.

The Finn struggled in making his title defence last year, winning just two races and only narrowly beating Robert Kubica to third place in the Drivers' Championship.

With Felipe Massa in contrast battling with Lewis Hamilton to the last corner of the last race in Brazil, Raikkonen found himself in the unusual position of supporting his team-mate's title bid.

Indeed, such was his malaise mid-season that it was even suggested that Raikkonen might be on the verge of retirement.

However, his form improved somewhat towards the end of the season and Raikkonen is now hoping that it will be a case of 'business as usual' in 2009.

Question mark
"Last year was not exactly what I wanted but that is in the past now and we will try again this year," he said at Monday's launch of the new Ferrari F60.

"Of course it is a big question mark how good the car will be because the rules have changed a lot.

"But we are very confident that the car should be very good and we will see in the next few weeks how good it is against the others.

"But for sure we'll try to win the world championships, but we'll see how it is and we'll go from there."

Raikkonen also conceded that it might take some time to adjust to the new-look car, which features a long, low front wing and a short, high rear wing in keeping with this season's new rules.

"It looks different because of the new regulations, but after looking at it for a little while you get used to it," he added.

"It looks different but it looks very good. I'm looking forward to see it run and see how it goes."

[via sky sports]

The Finn will not be the only F1 name in the mix as reports indicate former world champion Mika Hakkinen will also be competing.

[via Fox News]

The former 'Voice Of F1' Murray Walker has slated Kimi Raikkonen's lack of success in 2008, saying that Finn did a sub-standard job.




He claimed just two wins the entire campaign and in fact struggled to even make it onto the podium as he battled to get a handle on the characteristics of the Ferrari F208.


However, while some may give him some leeway, Walker reckons Raikkonen did not do the job he is paid rather well to do.


"He was on a roll after 2007 when he was world champion in his first year with a new team," said Walker.


"The conventional wisdom is that Raikkonen lost the Championship because he couldn't handle the understeering characteristic of the Ferrari, but that's his job.


"It's his job to master it and he's paid Ł20 million a year or something like that. Well, I'm very sorry for him, but it is his job and he didn't come up to snuff.


"(Felipe) Massa grasped the opportunity and blew him away, all credit to him."

[via planet f1]

Former world champions Kimi Raikkonen and Mika Hakkinen are no strangers to the pressures of Formula One racing, but the Finnish pair are preparing to sample a different motorsport challenge later this month, after agreeing to compete in this year’s arduous Arctic Lapland Rally.

For Ferrari driver Raikkonen this year’s rally will be his first and for his debut the 29 year-old will race a Fiat Abarth Grande Punto S2000, alongside co-driver Kaj Lindstrom. Hakkinen, who contested the rally in 2003, 2004 and 2006, will be at the wheel of a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 9, together with Ilkka Kivimaki.

This year's staging of the annual event, which sees top drivers tackle freezing weather conditions as they race around Northern Finland in the heart of the Arctic Circle, will take place from January 22-24. Previous winners include former world rally champions Marcus Gronholm, Tommi Makinen and Hannu Mikkola.

[via F1]

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]