text?Kimi Raikkonen

Birthdate: October 17th 1979   Country: Finland   Gender: M

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History: 1987 -  First time in kart 1988 -  Karting, some wins in Classes A, B and C 1989 -  Karting, some wins in Classes A, B and C 1990 -  Karting, some wins in Classes A, B and C 1991 -  National karting, Class Mini 1992 -  National karting, Class Raket Junior 1993 -  National karting, Class Raket, Finnish Cup, 9th overall. 1994 -  National karting, Class Raket, Finnisch Cup, 2nd overall. 1995 -  Formula A Karting: first race, and first win, 23rd April. 1996 -  Karting Grand Prix (European Series)World Championship races and Nordic Championship racesno wins in Finnish Championship, Class Formula A, finished 4th overall 1997 -  Finnish Championship, Class Intercontinental A, ChampionNordic Championship, Class Intercontinental A, 4th overallKarting Grand Prix and World Championship races - invited to drive with Peter de Bruin Team 1998 -  Lived in the NetherlandsFinnish Championship, class Formula A, ChampionNordic Championship, ChampionClass Formula Intercontinental A, European Karting Grand Prix, winner; Super A, 2nd overallMonaco Cup, class Super A, 3rd overallWorld Championship, Formula Super A, retired from 7th position 1999 -  Finnish Championship, Class Formula A, 2nd overallWorld Championship, class Formula Super A, 10thFirst Formula Renault race, with Haywood Racing, 3rdFormula Renault Winter Series, with Manor Motorsport - winner, four wins from four races 2000 -  British Renault 2000, Champion with Manor Motorsport (despite competing in only 10 rounds of the series), seven wins, six pole positions, seven fastest laps. Finished on the podium in all 10 races contested; European Formula Renault Championship: competed in only three rounds, two wins, two pole positions, two fastest laps. Retired while leading in third race due to mechanical failure. Tested for Red Bull Sauber Petronas Formula One team at Mugello 2001 -  Formula 1: Red Bull Sauber Petronas, 10th, 9 points 2002 -  Formula 1: West McLaren Mercedes, 6th, 24 points (1 second, 3 thirds) 2003 -  Formula 1: West McLaren Mercedes

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Kimi Raikkonen, the new flying Finn, only entered F1 in 2001 but has already established himself as a championship contender. In a great year which saw the debuts of other rookies such as Juan Pablo Montoya and Fernando Alonso, Kimi drove for Sauber Petronas? alongside fellow youngster Nick Heidfield?.

It was the teams best season ever. The drivers were regular points scorers, with Heidfield scoring an unexpected podium in Brazil behind David Coulthard and Michael Schumacher. Raikkonen also took some strong results, with a standout drive being his run to fourth in Austria.

By the end of the season it was clear Mika Hakkinen would be taking a sabbatical for 2002. And it was also clear that the two Sauber drivers were the main competition for the drive.

So who would Ron Dennis choose? The young Finn, who had only 16 races of experience before entering F1, or German Heidfield, a podium finisher, ex-Prost and one time McLaren test driver who would satisfy German company Mercedes.

It seemed such an obvious choice.

So when Kimi Raikkonen turned up at Melbourne in a Silver Arrow many were surprised at Dennis' decision. Some said Hakkinen may have swung the decision in Kimi's favour. But nothing was certain.

The decision seemed justified when Raikkonen drove to third in an incident filled first race for McLaren, largely helped by an 8 car pile-up at turn 1. After that, some more strong drives and another podium. In France, Raikkonen had a chance of winning. With his 3 main challengers: Michael Schumacher, Juan Pablo Montoya and David Coulthard having all recieved penalties, Kimi led with 5 laps to go. However Schumacher was close. Going down to the Adelaide hairpin Kimi was caught out by oil on the track from Allan McNish's Toyota. Kimi ran wide and Schumacher muscled his way past, despite yellow flags being waved.

It would be Malaysia the next year before the quiet Finn finally got the win he deserved. A shot at the title beckoned, but sadly Kimi wouldn't win again and was beaten by the record-breaking Michael Schumacher.

The 2004 McLaren was dreadful. Raikkonen and Coulthard looked at sea fighting with the Saubers. However a mid-season update gave the team race-winning opportunities again, and Kimi rewarded the teams hard work by winning at Spa.

In 2005 McLaren and Kimi emerged as geniune championship winners. Wins in Spain, Monaco and Canada have given Kimi a shot at the championship. However reliability problems hampered his chances, with successive engine failures at Silverstone, Magny Cours and Hockenheim. Despite taking the same amount of victories as Fernando Alonso, the Spaniard beat Raikkonen to the title by a country mile.

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Statistics

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Statistic	#	Percentage	First	Last
Number of Grand Prix	123	100%	2001	2008
Number of starts	123	100.00%	2001	2008
Number of finishes	84	68.29%	2001	2008
Number of finishes on podium	48	39.02%	2002	2007
Number of finishes in points	74	60.16%	2001	2008
Number of retirements	39	31.71%	2001	2007
Number of wins	15	12.20%	2003	2007
Number of pole positions	15	12.20%	2003	2007
Number of fastest laps	25	20.33%	2002	2007
Number of doubles (pole position & win)	5	4.07%	2005	2007
Number of triples (pole position, win & fastest lap)	1	0.81%	2007	2007

Seasons:	8 (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008)
Championships:	1 (2007)
Leading:	58 times during 761 laps in 37 Grand Prix with a total of 3772.991 Km
Points:	457 (Average per start: 3.72)
	Points per season - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 9 24 91 45 112 65 110 1 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Team:	Red Bull Sauber Petronas (2001), West McLaren Mercedes (2002), West McLaren Mercedes (2003), West McLaren Mercedes (2004), West McLaren Mercedes (2005), TBA McLaren Mercedes (2006), Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro (2007), Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro (2008)
Chassis:	Sauber C20 (2001), McLaren MP4/17 (2002), McLaren MP4/17D (2003), McLaren MP4/18 (2003), McLaren MP4/19B (2004), McLaren MP4/19 (2004), McLaren MP4/20 (2005), McLaren MP4-21 (2006), Ferrari F2007 (2007), Ferrari F2008 (2008)
Engine:	Petronas 01A (2001), Mercedes-Benz F0110M V10 (2002), Mercedes-Benz F0110 V10 (2003), Mercedes-Benz (2004), Mercedes-Benz (2005), Mercedes-Benz FO 108s (2006), Ferrari Type 056 (2007), Ferrari Type 056 (2008)