Kimi Räikkönen–The $50 Million Man
In 2007, Kimi Räikkönen replaced Michael Schumacher at the Scuderia Ferrari F1 team. Signed at a price tag in the $50million range, much was expected of the "IceMan".
Kimi-Matias Räikkönen was born on October 17, 1979 in Espoo, Finland. Kimi had only raced in 23 competitive races, winning 13 of them in the process before entering F1. He started racing, as all great drivers seem to do, in karting at age ten. Kimi placed second in the European Formula Super A championship in 1999, whilst also competing in the Formula Ford Euro Cup. He also won the British Formula Renault Winter series at age 20. In 2000, he won seven of ten events in the Formula Renault UK Championship.
Peter Sauber took notice of the Kimster’s results and gave him tests in late 2000 and signed Kimi for the 2001 season. The FIA however had reservations about giving the necessary F1 Super License to the young Finn, but finally did issue the license. The “Iceman” promptly scored his very first point in his debut race at the 2001 Australian GP.
The nickname “Iceman” comes from the Finn’s very cool, calm personality, a man of very few words, who likes to just go out and race, and of course the fact that he hails from Finland! After a successful 2001 in which he helped the Sauber team achieve their best result to date, Kimi was signed by Ron Dennis to race for his Mclaren team from 2002.
Kimi was always unlucky at McLaren, his car suffered numerous mechanical failures whilst leading a race but finally had his shot at the drivers crown in 2003. At the final race however Kimi needed to win with Michael Schumacher not scoring any points. Fate however had Kimi finishing in 2nd spot with Schumacher finishing in 8th. Kimi lost out by only two points.
In 2005 Kimi again had a realistic shot at winning it all but fell short of the impressive Fernando Alonso who only finished three races without scoring points.
After a dismal 2006, where he suffered six retirements, Kimi finally moved to Ferrari, a move that has reportedly made him the highest paid driver in F1 with a base salary of $50 million per year.
Kimi rewarded the team by not only taking pole, and setting the fastest lap of the race but also winning in his first outing with his new team.
The Iceman had only two retirements but he did however fall behind in the chase and after only seven races, Kimi saw himself 26 points behind the leader.
The title again seemed to slip away for the Finn, but an impressive array of wins at the French, British, Belgian and Chinese GP’s saw a showdown the likes of which have not been seen in 21 years. Räikkönen was now only seven points behind leader Lewis Hamilton and three points behind 2-time World Champion Fernando Alonso.
A win was likely but for Hamilton to finish outside the top five with Alonso also finishing in 3rd seemed as too much wishful thinking for a driver that has had so much misfortune in his F1 career.
Luck however finally seemed to smile on Kimi, and not only did he win but a few rare mistakes, along with technical glitches for Hamilton saw the rookie finish in 7th spot, with Alonso actually finishing in 3rd.
Kimi finally lay claim to the Formula One Drivers Championship, a title he richly deserved, a title that some say has finally confirmed what so many believed he was, one of the greatest drivers in the sport, one of the most naturally talented men to drive these awesome machines, and a title that may be claimed again by the man many simply call, “The Iceman”.
Kimi-Matias Räikkönen was born on October 17, 1979 in Espoo, Finland. Kimi had only raced in 23 competitive races, winning 13 of them in the process before entering F1. He started racing, as all great drivers seem to do, in karting at age ten. Kimi placed second in the European Formula Super A championship in 1999, whilst also competing in the Formula Ford Euro Cup. He also won the British Formula Renault Winter series at age 20. In 2000, he won seven of ten events in the Formula Renault UK Championship.
Peter Sauber took notice of the Kimster’s results and gave him tests in late 2000 and signed Kimi for the 2001 season. The FIA however had reservations about giving the necessary F1 Super License to the young Finn, but finally did issue the license. The “Iceman” promptly scored his very first point in his debut race at the 2001 Australian GP.
The nickname “Iceman” comes from the Finn’s very cool, calm personality, a man of very few words, who likes to just go out and race, and of course the fact that he hails from Finland! After a successful 2001 in which he helped the Sauber team achieve their best result to date, Kimi was signed by Ron Dennis to race for his Mclaren team from 2002.
Kimi was always unlucky at McLaren, his car suffered numerous mechanical failures whilst leading a race but finally had his shot at the drivers crown in 2003. At the final race however Kimi needed to win with Michael Schumacher not scoring any points. Fate however had Kimi finishing in 2nd spot with Schumacher finishing in 8th. Kimi lost out by only two points.
In 2005 Kimi again had a realistic shot at winning it all but fell short of the impressive Fernando Alonso who only finished three races without scoring points.
After a dismal 2006, where he suffered six retirements, Kimi finally moved to Ferrari, a move that has reportedly made him the highest paid driver in F1 with a base salary of $50 million per year.
Kimi rewarded the team by not only taking pole, and setting the fastest lap of the race but also winning in his first outing with his new team.
The Iceman had only two retirements but he did however fall behind in the chase and after only seven races, Kimi saw himself 26 points behind the leader.
The title again seemed to slip away for the Finn, but an impressive array of wins at the French, British, Belgian and Chinese GP’s saw a showdown the likes of which have not been seen in 21 years. Räikkönen was now only seven points behind leader Lewis Hamilton and three points behind 2-time World Champion Fernando Alonso.
A win was likely but for Hamilton to finish outside the top five with Alonso also finishing in 3rd seemed as too much wishful thinking for a driver that has had so much misfortune in his F1 career.
Luck however finally seemed to smile on Kimi, and not only did he win but a few rare mistakes, along with technical glitches for Hamilton saw the rookie finish in 7th spot, with Alonso actually finishing in 3rd.
Kimi finally lay claim to the Formula One Drivers Championship, a title he richly deserved, a title that some say has finally confirmed what so many believed he was, one of the greatest drivers in the sport, one of the most naturally talented men to drive these awesome machines, and a title that may be claimed again by the man many simply call, “The Iceman”.
Source: formula-1
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