Kimi Räikkönen

Probably one of the coolest drivers ever to grace F1 alongside James Hunt.

His part life-style may not have been to some teams liking in F1 but you can't deny that Kimi was probably one of the best drivers on the grid from 2003-09. He should have won more championships than he did!

Kimi won his one and only F1 Championship in 2007. Kimi won 18 races, 16 pole positions, scored 62 podiums and claimed 35 fastest laps in his time in F1.

Kimi is probably the must unluckiest driver to ever grace F1 and the amount of retirements he had no fault of his own were lots.

Kimi won his first GP in 2003 winning the Malaysian GP and he claimed his last victory in F1 at the 2009 Belguim GP.

Kimi started his F1 career in 2001 driving for Sauber, he then went on to drive for Mclaren and Ferrari before quitting the sport in 2009.

Kimi produced probably the 2 most funniest moments to happen in F1 over the last 10 years, when he said :censored: at the Brazilian GP in 2006 when Schumi first retired from F1 and the other one at the Malaysian GP where the race was red flagged and he went to the garage and got into shorts, t-shirt and flip-flops and started eating ice-cream.

Whether you liked him or not you can't deny his talent, he produced one of the comebacks of the past 10 season by starting near the back of the Japan GP in 2005 and went on to win it! Probably one of his best race wins in F1.

Did you like Kimi or Not?
 
Not very impressed , it seems so sad to see such a well known person so publicly legless . It makes me wonder if he has an alcohol problem. Which would explain a lot about his erratic driving and monosyllabic interviews.
 
i had a interesting chat last night with with 1 of my F1 mates. which got on to kimi raikkonen he is odd sportsman. & all started through this t-shirt. that id found
received_3118264898226882.png




how a comfortable kimi has been a slow kimi. but as soon as money or his career is at stake the kimi that can beat anyone turns we know turns up. after the recent story that kimi nearly bankrupted lotus as they didnt pay a salary but paid per point & ended paying £19m. 2nd highest on grid. then i started going through his career since at least 2007 when media are against him & he has something to prove. they end up been his best races

2007 - under pressure as replacement for Schumacher. as he not deemed tje correct choice. he wins the title
2009 - he get criticism in that dreadful ferrari. 1 podium in 9 races. then gets 4 consecutive podiums & wins Belgian GP
2012 - people wondering what he is doing back. he cant do well. exceeds all expectations. ferrari rehire him upon that
2018 - but hes told your out at Italian GP. sticks it on pole 24hrs later. wins in America & goes on to outscore vettel by 20pts remainder of the season. scoring his highest f1 points total of his career

on this kimi wouldve bern a multiple world champion on a race by race deal LOL
 
F1Brits_90 the Kimi since 2014 was long past his sell by date and should have been sent packing. We know certain people wanted him at Ferrari because he was going to be an Irvine - get paid and not moan about the politics.

He saw Hunt as one of his idols and sure it did follow a similar path where he lost motivation after 2007.

He was a bit like Berger who had poor races but is still around because of his reputation.

2007 - he was lucky that McLaren imploded to be WC which he should not have been.
2009 - his laid back style clearly did not sit well with Luca and they noticed the difference when Alonso joined.

I think his career has been driven too much by money given his overpaid salary at Ferrari but it was their fault for starting to pay Schumacher silly wages and then being gullible to think Kimi was worth the money and also install a golden parachute payment. Remember he was considered for coming back to McLaren but Button undercut him to land the drive.

2012 and 2013 were good years but marred by the dispute over pay. To be honest it was not his fault because that has to be landed at the door of Genii capital trying to screw him saying we want you to give your best but then turning around saying we did not expect you to do that well

I wish Kimi had retired back in 2013 and left his reputation in tact
 
im well aware that since 2015 as many people have predicted kimi retirement as have tried to prematurely kill off prince phillip. i wonder if this is finally the year because kimi was disinterested if car was only able for 5th. he is in worst car out in Q1 every race so far. i dont see him gaining enthusiasm for wanting to carry on in 2021 or 2022. he would break the record for most starts in Nurburgring & most entries in portimao

& in the TV age (1976 - ) if he hypocritically finished the 1st season of new regulations he would be 43yrs old & 2nd oldest driver to compete. as only Micheal Schumacher wouldve been older

https://insideracing.com/index.php/...n-poised-to-retire-from-f1-at-the-end-of-2020
 
He was always going to retire given Ferrari 's young drivers waiting plus you Perezor Hulkenberg being mentioned as well. Like I said he stayed for too long
 
There will be new record after this race for Kimi.
"Races Started" - 323

I wonder if Kimi is motivated enough to set a record for the number of seasons?
He's 18 now.
Barrichello and Schumacher each have 19.
 
Kimi is more than motivated & while hes still competitive with his team mate why not. even if hes going to feel old start career with micheal & ending with mick
 
from racing driver & business point of view. expecting this news for 5yrs. & he probably shouldve retired in 2018 after he finished 3rd in championship & won his final race in austin

but from a personal perspective. kimi going leave a big hole on the grid. i remember watching his 1st laps in the sauber in 2001. how funny the worries were back then. a 22yr old with 2 years of single seaters was too inexperienced to be in F1. he'd be a veteran now. but he is a driver loved & respected by all, he was 1 of best drivers in the world between 2002 & 2007. huge character on grid. in a time when F1 drivers were quite robotic/Boring & his quotes over years have had me laughing




 
I could never get the worry with Kimi before coming into F1.
  1. He was older than Jenson Button when he arrived (Button was barely 20 when he first raced an F1 car)
  2. He had raced in the same number of car seasons as Jenson Button (Button had raced a season in FFord, and F3).
  3. He was stepping into a midfield team
If you're good enough, then you're ready...

I'd also say that one of Raikkonen's former team-mates (David Coulthard) also stayed on in F1 too long.

Raikkonen will probably go down as the luckiest champion, and the unluckiest runner up in F1 history... After all, he should have won the world championship in 2005 (and possibly even in 2003). Had his McLaren not kept going pop, he would have cantered to the WDC...

Then there's 2007, he effectively got his payback on the luck... Going into the final race, he was the least favourite to finish the race as champion, yet, he overhauled both Alonso and Hamilton, after the latter suffered his first ever technical gremlin, with a mysterious issue causing his McLaren to slow suddenly and unexplainedly... Almost as if someone had told McLaren to make sure they didn't win the championship after photocopying Ferrari's design!
 
yeah thats the weird one with kimi he deserved a world title but when he shouldve won in 2003 & 2005 he didnt but when he shouldnt have being 18pts behind with 2 rounds left did win
 
Back
Top Bottom