Kimi Raikkonen, Formula 1’s most experienced driver, has called time on his career in the top flight with 349 starts to his name.
In that time he amassed 1,873 points, made 103 podium appearances, won 21 races and remains the most recent driver to won the world championship for Ferrari, in 2007. Take a look back on his career, which spanned more than two decades, in pictures.
2001
Raikkonen on his debut for Sauber in Albert Park, 2001Raikkonen reacting to finishing sixth on his debut with a characteristically blunt “there’s still five in front of me.”McLaren lined up Raikkonen as a replacement for champion RaikkonenRaikkonen and Heidfeld earned Sauber’s best constructors championship finish
2002
At McLaren’s 2002 car launch, for the MP4-17Raikkonen at the 2002 Australian Grand Prix, where he finished third
2003
Raikkonen’s first victory at the 2003 Malaysian Grand PrixA dramatic crash with Rubens Barrichello at the start of the 2003 German Grand PrixMichael Schumacher pipped Raikkonen to 2003 title by just two points
2004
The MP4-19 caused a lot of headaches in 2004Third year at McLaren began poorly but yielded a single win, at SpaTypically focussed on his own celebrations, after placing second at the Brazilian Grand Prix, behind future team mate Juan-Pablo Montoya
2005
Victorious at Monaco in 2005, the first of three career podiums around the principalityInto the gravel at the Nurburgring while leading, costing him vital points to title rival Fernando AlonsoAfter the Renault driver took the championship Raikkonen scored the most memorable win of the year, at Suzuka
2006
Testing ahead of his final season at McLarenHe took third at the opening round in Bahrain but it proved a win-less year
2007
Raikkonen’s debut and first victory for Ferrari in MelbourneOne of two crucial late season wins, in China, to take the title from McLarenCrossing the line to clinch his first world championshipRaikkonen pipped Hamilton to grab title in dramatic finaleCelebrating his championship success on the Interlagos podium
2008
Raikkonen won in Malaysia as he started his title defenceHe hit the wall at Spa during a thrilling and controversial scrap with soon-to-be-champion Lewis Hamilton
2009
Raikkonen famously retired and went for an ice cream when his car let him down in rain-shortened Malaysian Grand PrixRaikkonen’s only victory of the 2009 season came at Spa, always one of his strongest tracksHe bowed out of F1 for two years after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
2012
Battling with Mark Webber during the Bahrain Grand Prix after he returned with LotusClosing on Hamilton in Hungary as he took another podiumRaikkonen took his first victory after his return to F1 in Abu Dhabi
2013
He opened his second year at Lotus with another win in the Australian Grand PrixTeam mate Romain Grosjean pushed him harder as the season went onAfter a first-lap retirement at Yas Marina, Raikkonen didn’t return to the cash-strapped team
2014
Ferrari lured him back for 2014, but the first year of the V6 turbo hybrids brought little cheerHe spent just a single year as team mate to Fernando Alonso – team principal Marco Mattiacci was gone soon, too
2015
Ferrari returned to winning ways in 2015, though not for Raikkonen, as at the Mexican Grand Prix
2016
Driving to a third-place finish in SochiOn the drivers’ parade with fellow Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas at COTAThe rain poured down at Interlagos, where Raikkonen was one of many who crashed out
2017
A dramatic collision with team mate Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen at the Singapore Grand Prix startDriving to a podium finish in Sochi
2018
A record-breaking lap at Monza gave him his final career podium in 2018Raikkonen saw off Hamilton for his 21st and final race win, at the United States Grand PrixA third place finish at the Mexican Grand PrixAfter losing his Ferrari seat, Raikkonen opted against retirement
2019
He returned to Sauber – who run Alfa Romeo – 2019. He came under attack from Max Verstappen at SpaRaikkonen’s final Singapore Grand Prix appearance
2020
Practice day in Monza during the heavily disrupted 2020 season
2021
Retirement from the Portuguese Grand Prix following contact with team mate Antonio GiovinazziA final team photo with Alfa Romeo, in Abu Dhabi. Car trouble cut short his final F1 race
Good stuff, some nice pictures. I have seen this pre-debut photo in the jet once maybe some years before, but I liked it by that time as well.
“A record-breaking lap at Monza gave him his final career podium in 2018”. I do not understand this caption. One of the later pictures and captions are about his last win, and last podium. In 2018 Monza he had his last pole iirc. And then, quite famously, or apparently he was used to block one of Vettel’s rivals for many laps, what quite heavily compromised his Monza GP, i hated that by that time, but other teams are doing this to some extent as well. Later on, in 2018 luckily he found some good form and came up with those final podiums, and the victory.
I have found the ending of his 2018 season quite Kim-ish, as despite of an early DNF at the last race, he kept hist 3rd placement in the championship, with 2 points ahead of Verstappen. I was just so sad to see, at the DNF, that he almost certainly looses it. But in the end he earned it, by a little margin, just like his WDC title with 1 point ahead :)
I liked Kimi, but seeing his quali gaps to Giovinazzi at his season, I think it was a timely retirement, even if I wanted to see him racing the cars with the new aero formula. He still had the racecraft, and managing abilities, but not really the raw pace. With some of his uncharacteristic errors, it reminded me to the last season of Coulthard, with similarly more errors than usual.
Oh no, as the finishing order at the 2018 Monza GP was 1)Hamilton, 2)Raikkonen 3)Bottas, 4)Vettel, the opposite happened. It was Mercedes who strategically slowed down Raikkonen, and made him to drive many laps in dirty air by doing a very long sting with Bottas. So quite the opposite, but still it was one of the last real chances for Kimi to win a GP.
It’s really amazing that some of these drivers can compete for 20 years – says a lot about the safety of the sport and the talent that some of those drivers possess.
I loved watching Hakkinen fighting with Schumacher back in the day and was thrilled to see Raikkonen take his place at McLaren when he retired. It’s just a real shame that reliability issues with his McLarens let him down, he was quicker than everyone in that era and deserved to be a multiple world champion. Above all he was a unique character and didn’t confirm to the usual polished, media savvy driver. I’ll miss you Kimi.
Good images, but I would easily drop tha ones from Sochi to show him pass both Ferraris with the Alpha in Portugal. Or, with Alpha, passing the Ferrari of Vettel in Spa. So much good stuff from Kimi.
It’s a real shame young fans will never be able to fully appreciate his younger years and how much he meant to the whole scene in his McLaren years. I’ve never really been a fan of Kimi Raikkonen as a funny meme, i.e. what certains parts of fandom reduce him to, and I think his role and influence in the mid 00’s are still underappreciated and unexplored. 2005 will ever be the championship that was painfully lost.
While I absolutely preferred raikkonen in 2005, it’s not fair to say it was painfully lost, if that mclaren had been reliable it’d have been a dominant car, so raikkonen being this far ahead in races can be explained by the car, you either have a fairly quick and reliable renault or a rocket unreliable mclaren, you can’t have it both ways.
Imre (@f1mre)
27th December 2021, 13:24
It was so nostalgic to have a look at the cars from the 2000s. And the memories of that era and the rivalries of that era.
It would be nice to have a Column where pictures and history (or evolution) are the main features. It could be around eras, teams, rivalries, tracks.
Philippe (@philippe)
27th December 2021, 13:58
Crazy to see how cars just keep getting bigger and uglier.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
27th December 2021, 16:09
Indeed.
Jockey Ewing
27th December 2021, 14:07
Good stuff, some nice pictures.
I have seen this pre-debut photo in the jet once maybe some years before, but I liked it by that time as well.
“A record-breaking lap at Monza gave him his final career podium in 2018”.
I do not understand this caption. One of the later pictures and captions are about his last win, and last podium. In 2018 Monza he had his last pole iirc. And then, quite famously, or apparently he was used to block one of Vettel’s rivals for many laps, what quite heavily compromised his Monza GP, i hated that by that time, but other teams are doing this to some extent as well. Later on, in 2018 luckily he found some good form and came up with those final podiums, and the victory.
Jockey Ewing
27th December 2021, 14:26
I have found the ending of his 2018 season quite Kim-ish, as despite of an early DNF at the last race, he kept hist 3rd placement in the championship, with 2 points ahead of Verstappen. I was just so sad to see, at the DNF, that he almost certainly looses it. But in the end he earned it, by a little margin, just like his WDC title with 1 point ahead :)
I liked Kimi, but seeing his quali gaps to Giovinazzi at his season, I think it was a timely retirement, even if I wanted to see him racing the cars with the new aero formula. He still had the racecraft, and managing abilities, but not really the raw pace. With some of his uncharacteristic errors, it reminded me to the last season of Coulthard, with similarly more errors than usual.
Thanks for these two tribute articles!
Jockey Ewing
27th December 2021, 18:00
Oh no, as the finishing order at the 2018 Monza GP was 1)Hamilton, 2)Raikkonen 3)Bottas, 4)Vettel, the opposite happened. It was Mercedes who strategically slowed down Raikkonen, and made him to drive many laps in dirty air by doing a very long sting with Bottas. So quite the opposite, but still it was one of the last real chances for Kimi to win a GP.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
27th December 2021, 14:39
It’s really amazing that some of these drivers can compete for 20 years – says a lot about the safety of the sport and the talent that some of those drivers possess.
stefano (@alfa145)
27th December 2021, 17:42
nice pics, but the Bahrain one is Montoya
Jere (@jerejj)
27th December 2021, 17:43
A nice image compilation. BTW, Montoya is in the 2006 Bahrain GP image.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
27th December 2021, 18:12
McLaren lined up Raikkonen as a replacement for champion Raikkonen
Raikkonen is the only driver good enough to replace himself (in 2002)!
G
27th December 2021, 19:31
I loved watching Hakkinen fighting with Schumacher back in the day and was thrilled to see Raikkonen take his place at McLaren when he retired. It’s just a real shame that reliability issues with his McLarens let him down, he was quicker than everyone in that era and deserved to be a multiple world champion. Above all he was a unique character and didn’t confirm to the usual polished, media savvy driver. I’ll miss you Kimi.
Estíverson Oliveira
27th December 2021, 20:18
Good images, but I would easily drop tha ones from Sochi to show him pass both Ferraris with the Alpha in Portugal. Or, with Alpha, passing the Ferrari of Vettel in Spa. So much good stuff from Kimi.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
27th December 2021, 20:41
I will miss Kimi.
He was a real person in a game of Celebrities :(
Pironi the Provocateur (@pironitheprovocateur)
28th December 2021, 0:22
It’s a real shame young fans will never be able to fully appreciate his younger years and how much he meant to the whole scene in his McLaren years. I’ve never really been a fan of Kimi Raikkonen as a funny meme, i.e. what certains parts of fandom reduce him to, and I think his role and influence in the mid 00’s are still underappreciated and unexplored. 2005 will ever be the championship that was painfully lost.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
28th December 2021, 1:53
While I absolutely preferred raikkonen in 2005, it’s not fair to say it was painfully lost, if that mclaren had been reliable it’d have been a dominant car, so raikkonen being this far ahead in races can be explained by the car, you either have a fairly quick and reliable renault or a rocket unreliable mclaren, you can’t have it both ways.
antybuc
28th December 2021, 10:04
Bwoah :)
regs (@regs)
29th December 2021, 11:26
https://www.racefans.net/2021/02/09/racefans-round-up-09-02-3/formula-1-testing-jerez-91/
This is how McLaren should looks like now. Ditch blue. It doesn’t mix with orange.