Besides being loved for his blunt responses and hilarious one-liners, Kimi Raikkonen is also adored for his amazing race craft. The fans hyped up the 2007 world champion since he arrived in the sport.
He performed for Sauber in his rookie year, and his impressive performances made McLaren go for him to replace his retiring compatriot Mikka Hakkinen.
From there onwards, the Finn race driver was a force to reckon with. He was constantly battling with Michael Schumacher for the title in that era, but his car reliability was a huge concern most of the time.
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Kimi Raikkonen once surprised the world with his majestic lap
In 2005, Raikkonen was one of the contenders to win the title. His pace was excellent that year, which could be exhibited in how he won the Belgian Grand Prix that year.
While driving his car around Spa Francochamps, the Finnish race driver shocked the world. He recorded a time of 1:53.810. Commentator James Allen was in disbelief at what he was watching.
The commentator remarked: “Raikkonen has set the fastest. My goodness me. I can’t believes my eyes,” shouted Allen. “1:53.8, that’s two seconds faster than any lap in this Grand Prix.”
Surely, Raikkonen was in a different that day and won that race comfortably. Many even believe he could have won that year’s championship if not for his car’s poor reliability.
Getting out of the game with grace
The 21 Grand Prix winner was at the top of his game for many years. But in 2018, his time at the top was coming to an end. Ferrari was seeing a future star in their academy driver Charles Leclerc, who was with Sauber back then.
It was then decided that Raikkonen wouldn’t be allowed to extend his stay at Ferrari. The Finn gracefully accepted the decision. But before going away, he won his last race with the Prancing Horse by winning at the US Grand Prix.
🙌 Kimi Raikkonen’s first win since the 2013 Australian GP #USGP pic.twitter.com/DxEeLvdY6l
— Motorsport Images (@MSI_Images) October 21, 2018
After leaving Ferrari, he swapped seats with Leclerc by going to Sauber (now Alfa Romeo). He competed there for three years before finally ending his career in 2021.
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