Nationality: Finnish (Espoo, Finland)
Current team: Lotus-Renault
Favorite Food: Ice Cream
Favorite activities (outside of racing): Sleeping and drinking
Races: 181 (180 starts)
Wins: 20
Winning Percentage: 11%
Podiums: 72
Career points: 853
Poles: 18
Fastest laps: 38
Leading the charge at Lotus for this year and last is a familiar face, Kimi Raikkonen. Many people know him for his dry personality, his daring overtakes or his world championship in 2007. However, other then that, people don't seem to know too much about him. So let's dive deeper into the Iceman.
Kimi-Matias Raikkonen is currently racing in his ninth year of Formula One. He started as a karter in his home country of Finland. He dominated there, so he moved on to searching around the globe for more competitive races. His first race outside of the country was in Monaco. While he didn't win, it was pretty memorable. His steering wheel broke off, and since there isn't any radio in karting, he informed his mechanic by waving his steering wheel at him on the pit straight. His second race in Monaco was also crazy. He ended up on the wrong side of the safety barrier on the first lap. So, he did what everyone would have done. Drive until there was no more track, and then carry his kart back onto the track. He went on to finish 3rd.
His career in Formula Renault was amazing, in the two Formula series that he participated in 23 races. Of those 23 he won 13, a winning percentage of a whopping 56%. Then, because of his success, he got a test with Sauber, and replaced Felipe Massa, who went to Ferrari. He was questioned because of his age, only officially competing in 23 car races, in the end however, he scored a point in his first race in Australia. His final point total was 9, a result that launched Sauber to a record 4th in the Constructor's Championship along with teammate Nick Heidfeld.
Much like Perez, he was expected to go to Ferrari, but ended up at Mclaren, replacing his mentor and idol Mika Hakkinen. He didn't win any championships there, but was a contender in at least 3 of the 5 seasons he spent there. He got his first podium in his first race with the team, finishing third in Australia. Raikkonen won his first race in Malaysia 2003 after starting 7th but was relegated to 2nd because of unclear rules. He learned a lot about strategy in 2003 because of fuel and tires, which I'm sure is helping him out now at Lotus. Mclaren finished third that year, only two points behind 2nd place team Williams. In 2006, his last year, his F3 team won the Driver's Championship. In 2006, he himself finished fifth, mainly due to the car.
In 2007, he became the first since Nigel Mansell to win his first Grand Prix with Ferrari, taking fastest lap, pole and the win in Australia. He won the championship by a single point over then rookie Lewis Hamilton because of mistakes from him and Mclaren. Then, in 08 and 09, Ferrari had an noncompetitive car, so he left Formula 1 for Rally.
Then, as we know, he returned in 2012 and has since won two races and got a podium in the most recent race in Bahrain.
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