Kimi Räikkönen: Full Biography
Kimi Räikkönen is a Finnish former racing driver and the 2007 Formula 1 World Champion, who raced for Sauber, McLaren, Ferrari, Lotus and Alfa Romeo across nineteen seasons.
The Shortest CV He grew up in Espoo, started karting at ten and left school at sixteen for a mechanics course, believing it might be the only way to stay in motorsport. He won two British Formula Renault championships, and had contested just 23 car races when Sauber tested him in late 2000 and signed him for the following season. The superlicence was publicly debated; he finished sixth on debut.
McLaren and Ferrari Five seasons at McLaren brought nine wins and two runner-up finishes, in 2003 and 2005, in cars that were often quick and rarely reliable. Ferrari signed him for 2007 to replace the retiring Michael Schumacher. He went to the final race in Brazil third in the standings and won both the race and the championship by a single point.
The Long Goodbye He left Ferrari after 2009, spent two seasons in the World Rally Championship, and returned to Formula 1 with Lotus in 2012 to finish third overall. His last win came at Austin in 2018, 114 races after his previous one — still the longest gap between victories in Formula 1 history. He retired at the end of 2021 with 349 Grand Prix starts and 103 podiums.
