Kimi Räikkönen is the most successful Finnish driver in the High-Octane world of Formula 1. His career is nothing short of awe-inspiring driving with 5 teams and a World Driver Championship, 21 Grand Prix wins, 83 podiums (excluding wins), and a record 331 starts.
Kimi’s debut came in 2001 with BMW Sauber and scored 9 points for the team. However, it was with McLaren Mercedes in 2003 that he clinched his first Grand Prix victory at the Malaysian GP. This paved the way for a remarkable career ahead.
Kimi secured 9 wins and 36 podiums, a particularly exceptional season in 2005 when he clinched 7 wins for McLaren. In 2007, he moved to Ferrari, which was a successful maneuver for his career. His debut win with the Scuderia set the tone for an exceptional year when he secured the F1 World Driver Championship, claiming 6 victories and 12 podium finishes.
Until 2010 with Ferrari, Räikkönen added 9 more wins and 31 podiums. After a two-year break, he returned to F1 driving for Lotus, where he added another Grand Prix win and 15 podiums. Kimi joined Ferrari again in 2014, but that year was challenging as his teammate, Fernando Alonso, scored more than him. However, 2017 saw the Iceman’s glorious comeback as he secured a thrilling victory at the Monaco Grand Prix, achieving the then-fastest track timing.
As his contract with Ferrari concluded in 2018, he joined Alfa Romeo in 2019. Though the wins and podiums eluded him during this period, his passion for racing remained undeterred. In mid-season 2021, Kimi Räikkönen decided to retire from Formula 1, leaving a lasting impact on the sport and with more records that are yet to be broken.
Kimi Räikkönen’s best pole positions
In addition to his Grand Prix wind and Podiums, the World Driver Champion possesses 18 pole positions to his side throughout his F1 career. The first of this Pole position came from the Nürburgring Circuit, Europe Grand Prix, 2003 in McLaren with a Mercedes V10 engine and 0.032s pole Margin.
Out of his 18 poles, 11 were from his time with McLaren and second most (7 poles) with Ferrari. Only a select few made a name for him and had been the best of his career. Kimi’s pole position in the 2005 Spain, Monaco, and Turkey GP has earned him wins that were crucial to claim his 2nd position in Driver Championship.
His Australian and Belgium Grand Prix Pole position also secured his wins in 2007 when he won the World Driver Championship with Ferrari. But his best Pole came after a decade when he won Pole Position in Monaco Grand Prix 2017 and won 2nd on the podium which was very much needed on his down-turning career.
The 2018 Italian Grand Prix was a historic moment for Kimi, that was the 1st pole position for Ferrari since 2010 in the Autodromo Nazionale Monza circuit. His time of 1:19.119 was also the fastest lap recorded at the circuit and made him the oldest driver to take the pole since Nigel Mansell at the 1994 Australian Grand Prix.