Date of birth - 17th October 1979
Country - Finland
Team - Mclaren-Mercedes

Kimi Raikkonen did not enter the Formula One scene following the "normal" routes. He began his motorsport endeavours at the age of 11 in national events in Finland.

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First in the 1997 and 1998 Finnish and Nordic series in Formula ICA and A championships respectively, Raikkonen had won his maiden international FA race two years before.

Joining Ford team Haywood Racing Kimi took a podium finish on his maiden outing but was later forced to quit the series after technical problems prevented a championship challenge.

Kimi Raikkonen winning the 2000 season British Formula Renault Sport title was what first attracted the attention of the Formula One teams. He took seven wins, ten podiums, seven pole positions and six fastest laps from only ten races. He then went on to impress even more in the category's EuroCup taking two wins, two poles and two fastest laps from only three events (and retired from the lead of the other). Finally Peter Sauber offered Raikkonen a maiden F1 test. With just 23 races under his belt there were naturally serious concerns about Kimi Raikkonen's ability to jump straight from Formula Renault to Formula One but the confident Kimi quickly dispelled any doubts.

2nd in the 2005 championship and the only thing that stopped him was an unreliable car. With a decent car under him he should be champion in 2006, let's look forward to a battle between at least himself and Fernando and perhaps even Michael Schumacher...

Written by the Webmaster of All About All Sport.