Kimi Matias Räikkönen (pronounced approximately /ki-mi ma-ti-as ræik-kø-nen/ in IPA, born October 17, 1979 in Espoo, Finland) is a Formula One race car driver. Having finished runner up in the Formula One Drivers World Championship twice in the course of 3 years, he is one of the strongest challengers in the current ERA of the sport.

Early career (until 2000)
Räikkönen had a long line of success in karting from the age of ten, including placing second in the 1999 European Formula Super A championship. He also competed that year in the Formula Ford Euro Cup, and by the age of twenty, he had won the British Formula Renault Winter series, winning the first four races of the year. In 2000, he dominated the Formula Renault UK Championship, where he won seven of ten events. After racing in the Formula Renault series later in 2000, Räikkönen had won an astounding 13 of 23 events a 56% win rate.

Sauber - his entry into F1 (2001)
Peter Sauber was so impressed that he gave the Finn a test with the Sauber Formula One team in September of 2000. After further tests in Jerez and Barcelona, Sauber signed Räikkönen for the 2001 season. However, some critics (including FIA president Max Mosley) voiced concerns over granting an F1 super license to such an inexperienced driver, having only 23 racing events to his credit; he was nevertheless granted a super license, and silenced his critics by scoring a championship point in Australia, his maiden Grand Prix. Räikkönen was asleep 20 minutes before his first F1 GP (He loves to sleep - so much so that he needs to be woken up before qualifying and races.)

Far from being the hazard that some people expected him to be, Räikkönen was very calm, cool, and calculating in his race strategy - prompting former critics to nickname him "the Iceman". His other nicknames include Kimppa, Räikkä and Kimster (used by his mechanics). Some finns jokingly call him "Räkä", meaning snot in Finnish. This nickname was derived from "Häkä" (carbon monoxide in Finnish), the nickname of Mika Häkkinen. He had a solid debut year, proving he was indeed ready for the big time of Formula One. He finished the season with four points-scoring finishes, with eight finishes in the top eight. Completing the year with 9 points, Räikkönen, along with teammate and fellow prospect Nick Heidfeld (12 points), helped Team Sauber to its highest ever result: fourth place in the constructors championship.

McLaren (2002-2005)
Räikkönen, long rumoured to be linked to a future Ferrari deal, instead sufficiently impressed McLaren, earning a race seat on Ron Dennis's team for 2002, taking the seat left vacant by double-world champion (and fellow Finn) Mika Häkkinen's retirement

 

2002
Räikkönen scored a third-place podium finish in his first race with McLaren, the 2002 Australian Grand Prix. Although McLaren suffered many Mercedes engine failures in 2002, the young Finn still managed to score 24 points and four podiums, and held his own against teammate David Coulthard. Räikkönen came close to winning his first grand prix in France, but spun out on oil, spilled by the Toyota of Allan McNish, on the Magny-Cours circuit with a handful of laps to go and settled for second place. He finished the season in sixth place, right behind his teammate in fifth; together, they achieved a solid third place for McLaren in the constructors chase.

2003
Räikkönen began the 2003 campaign in spectacular fashion, reaching the podium in five out of the first six races, despite still racing in the 2002 car. He won his first race during this span, the 2003 Malaysian Grand Prix, and thought he had won the rain-drenched, red-flagged Brazilian Grand Prix as well, before the initially declared result was corrected, leaving him in second place. He also came extremely close to winning at the famed street circuit of Monaco, but lost by less than a second to future teammate Juan Pablo Montoya. The 2003 season would prove to be the closest campaign in years, with Räikkönen's championship hopes still mathematically alive at the final race. But 2003 would not be his year, as he settled for second place to Michael Schumacher, still driving the updated 2002 McLaren. The team also narrowly lost second place in the constructor championship, finishing a meager two points behind Williams.

2004
The 2004 season began in dismal fashion for both Räikkönen and McLaren, as he only claimed a single point through the first four races. His McLaren, especially the Mercedes engine, suffered repeated breakdowns, allowing him to complete just two of the first seven events. Toward the middle of the season, though, McLaren switched to their new MP4-19B chassis and had made a partial recovery by end of the year. Räikkönen scored his third ever pole position at McLaren's home grand prix at Silverstone, and in Belgium he also claimed his second victory from 10th place on the grid using equipment vastly inferior to Ferrari and Williams. It also meant Daily Express correspondent Bob McKenzie lost a bet made earlier in the season. As his forfeit he ran one lap around the Silverstone circuit at the 2005 Grand Prix naked and painted in the black and silver colours of McLaren. Räikkönen ended the year a respectable seventh, with 45 points and four podiums.

Despite the disappointment of the 2004 season, Räikkönen was still seen as one of the rising stars of the sport, along with Renault's Fernando Alonso and 2005 McLaren teammate Juan Pablo Montoya. Many pundits predicted 2005 to be filled with great on-track battles from a resurgent squad in Woking. He was also referred to by Ross Brawn and Jean Todt as a driver whom Ferrari might consider in the future.

In early November 2004, Räikkönen announced his intention to create a racing team with his manager Steve Robertson, to be entitled Räikkönen Robertson Racing, which would compete in Formula 3 in 2005.

 
2005
Räikkönen's start to the 2005 season was less than perfect. The car was reported to be too soft on its Michelin tyres, with the result that it wasn't generating enough heat to post competitive qualifying times. The best qualifying position that a McLaren pilot could manage in the first 3 races was a 6th. Räikkönen compounded this by stalling on the grid of the first race of the season, the Australian Grand Prix, and ending the race with just a point. He looked set for a podium in Malaysia until a faulty tyre valve gave way and dropped him out of the points. Bahrain saw him get his first podium of the season.

Räikkönen then hit back with three consecutive poles at San Marino, Barcelona and Monte Carlo, with an almost certain win being denied at Imola after a driveshaft failure and then winning the Spanish Grand Prix by a large margin. Räikkönen then won the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix, putting him within 22 points of leader Fernando Alonso.

At the European Grand Prix Räikkönen flat-spotted his right front tyre while lapping Jacques Villeneuve (some commentators put a share of the blame on Villeneuve, as he did not give Räikkönen the racing line, and forced him on to the dirty part of the track). The resultant vibrations caused his suspension to fail while he led on the final lap, sending him into the tire wall and handing a further ten points to his rival Alonso. Opinion is divided as to whether he should have persevered on the track or rather pitted for a tire change and a relatively safe third place - however this is a moot point as tire changes were not allowed in 2005, though this incident resulted in a rules modification allowing teams to make one safety-related tire change per Grand Prix.

Alonso's first major mistake of the 2005 season handed the Canadian Grand Prix to Räikkönen. The following weekend saw the Michelin teams, including McLaren, withdraw from the United States Grand Prix due to safety concerns.

At the French Grand Prix Räikkönen suffered a ten-place grid-penalty following the replacement of his new specification Mercedes Benz engine which failed in Friday practice. Räikkönen, putting in what Ron Dennis would call his best ever qualifying lap, qualified 3rd (demoted to 13th) with a significant fuel load. He eventually finished 2nd behind Fernando Alonso. A week later at the British Grand Prix Räikkönen suffered another Mercedes engine failure due to an oil leak; his 2nd place qualifying place became 12th. He claimed 3rd place in the race.

 
In the German Grand Prix Räikkönen was comfortably in the lead having dominated all through the weekend, suffered a hydraulics failure (it has also been reported that the failure could have been due to a "fluid leak triggered by human error, a pressure relief valve had apparently not been re-fastened properly after a check"), handing victory and a further 10 points to Alonso. It was his third retirement while leading a race this year. On all 3 occasions, it was championship rival Fernando Alonso, who took advantage to win.

Significantly, at the opening of the Hungarian Grand Prix, though saying he was very comfortable at McLaren, Räikkönen raised the possibility that he may leave McLaren when his contract expires in 2006 if reliability issues are not solved. He told a news conference, "We need to work in a better way just to make sure that the car is very reliable." He however went on to take the chequered flag with a convincing victory over Michael Schumacher.

Räikkönen also achieved an impressive statistic at the Hungarian Grand Prix by managing to win the race from the most handicapped qualifying position, having had to do his qualifying run first on the notoriously dusty and dirty track due to his early retirement a week earlier at Hockenheim. No other driver had previously managed this feat under the controversial grid qualification system which significantly penalises those who retire from a race.

Räikkönen then became the first ever winner of the Turkish Grand Prix. Two weeks later at the Italian Grand Prix, Kimi Räikkönen's pole position time was taken from him as he received a 10-position grid penalty for another engine change. Just how impressive this lap was only revealed during the race, when it turned out that he had 5 laps of fuel more than teammate Juan Pablo Montoya and 6 more than Alonso during qualifying - and still managed to outpace them. Just when it looked like McLaren had pulled off a strategic coup with Räikkönen on a one-stop strategy, his left-rear tyre delaminated (something which affected Montoya, too, towards the end and almost had him giving the race to Alonso), and was forced to take an extra stop to change the tyre. He dropped down to 12th. He recovered, but spun his car after pushing too hard chasing the 3rd placed driver. He eventually finished fourth.

He went on to win, for the second year in a row, the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps. The following race (the Brazilian Grand Prix) saw Alonso clinch the Drivers' Championship, after finishing third behind Montoya and Räikkönen.

In the penultimate race of the year, at the Suzuka circuit in Japan, Räikkönen produced arguably the best drive of his career, taking his 7th victory of the season after starting 17th on the grid (as rain had mixed up the qualifying grid). The win was secured when he overtook Renault driver Giancarlo Fisichella on the final lap, which many considered to be the most spectacular pass of the season.

Proponents of Räikkönen argue that he was the best driver of the 2005 season. Without the reliability issues, he may very well have won the Drivers' Championship. (This was reflected in Räikkönen getting several post-season accolades like "Driver of the season" - especially from reputed magazines like F1 Racing and Autosport.) However most commentators agree that Alonso fully deserves the title, dominating the early part of the season, while McLaren struggled, and driving consistently since then to capitalise on Räikkönen's problems. The Japanese and Chinese Grands Prix also saw Alonso abandon the conservative style evident in some races when he was still chasing the championship title.

2006
 
In Bahrain, Räikkönen suffered electronic problems during Friday practice and a rear suspension break during the first qualifying session, which forced him back to 22nd place on the grid. Nevertheless he drove through the field, ending third behind Alonso and Michael Schumacher. In Malaysia, Räikkönen was hit from behind by Red Bull Racing's Christian Klien on the very first lap. The impact caused a left rear suspension failure resulting in Räikkönen retiring from the race.

Having started the year clearly behind Renault, McLaren improved in Australia, where Räikkönen finished second after flat spotting a tyre and losing a wing end-plate, causing him to fall off the pace somewhat around the midpoint of the race. Chasing down Alonso during the final stages of the race, he did however achieve the fastest lap of the race on the final lap, finishing only 1.8 seconds behind the Spaniard. At the San Marino Grand Prix a bad choice of strategy and a mistake from Räikkönen in qualifying (8th) saw the McLarens get caught in traffic in the early part of the race allowing Michael Schumacher and Alonso to get away at the front. Räikkönen eventually finished 5th, with team mate Montoya ahead in 3rd place. McLaren team boss Ron Dennis blamed Kimi Räikkönen's poor performance for the team's failure to finish in the top two in the race.

 
At the Spanish Grand Prix Räikkönen qualified 9th. However at the start Räikkönen managed to get up to 5th place on the first lap. He retained this position for most of the race, finishing 5th place. A few days after the Spanish Grand Prix, he admitted that he had no chance of winning the 2006 Championship. In Monte Carlo, Räikkönen qualified third. During the race he would get up to 2nd and keep pace with Alonso, however he retired during a safety car period after a failed heat shield led to heat from the exhaust causing a wiring loom inside the car to catch fire.

The British Grand Prix at Silverstone saw Räikkönen qualify second behind Alonso and in front of Michael Schumacher. The running order was Alonso, Räikkönen, Schumacher until the second set of pitstops where Räikkönen was demoted to third by Schumacher, a position he held until the end of the race. At Canada, Räikkönen achieved another podium. In the United States Grand Prix, his teammate punted him out in an expensive seven car accident. The 2006 French Grand Prix saw Räikkönen qualify his car in sixth. His teammate was now former test driver Pedro de la Rosa in place of Montoya. Räikkönen ended the race in fifth. In Germany Räikkönen qualified on pole. After a battle with Button, he finished the race for the first time in his career, ending in third place. Another pole came in Hungary but he collided with Vitantonio Liuzzi after 25 laps, causing his fourth retirement of the season.

 

A first turn incident with Scott Speed at the Turkish Grand Prix led to an exploded tyre and suspension damage. After a tyre change, Räikkönen's race ended half way into the next lap when he ran into the barricade at turn 4. Räikkönen qualified on pole for the Italian Grand Prix, snatching pole from Michael Schumacher by 2 thousandths of a second right at the end of qualifying. He led the early part of the race until the first pitstops where he was passed by Schumacher. He stayed in second place for the rest of the race. After the race Schumacher announced that he was retiring. Later Ferrari announced that he would be replaced in the 2007 season by Räikkönen.

The Chinese Grand Prix saw another retirement for Räikkönen due to engine problems. His last two Grands Prix, those of Japan and Brazil, did lead to 2 finishes, but twice missed the podium. After Brazilian Grand Prix he ended his McLaren-Mercedes ERA with a fifth place in the World Drivers' Championship, with McLaren placing third in the World Constructors' Championship at the end of a winless year.

Räikkönen's British Formula Three Championship team Räikkönen Robertson Racing claimed their first major success, with British driver Mike Conway winning the 2006 British F3 International Series title and the prestigious Macau Grand Prix.