With the news that Kimi Räikkönen is hanging up his helmet and gloves at the end of 2021, here’s a look back at some of the defining moments of his career: the good, the bad, and the downright hilarious.
The Iceman at McLaren
After debuting in F1 with Sauber at the 2001 Australian GP, for 2002 Kimi Räikkönen joined the West McLaren Mercedes team – replacing Mika Häkkinen, his fellow Finn and double World Champion, who retired at the end of 2001.
Kimi showed his true race-winning potential at McLaren, taking his maiden win at the 2003 Malaysian Grand Prix.
Kimi would later go on to win eight more races with the Woking-based outfit between 2002 and 2005.
It was whilst at McLaren that he gained his popular moniker the Iceman, as despite his speed he had a cool manner and was a man of little words.
But his winless 2006 campaign drew to an end his time at McLaren – one that had been plagued by mechanical failures and reliability problems.
In a now famous video clip taken from the 2006 Monaco GP, Kimi’s McLaren suffered a heat shield failure just after the hairpin; and, in his frustration, he walked straight to his yacht, stripped off & climbed into a hot tub – instead of walking back to the pits.
Kimi left McLaren for Ferrari in 2007, taking Michael Schumacher’s place at the team after the seven-time World Champion retired from F1 in 2006.
But not before one last quote in his McLaren gear. Having missed the pre-race presentation by Brazilian football legend Pelé to Michael Schumacher, he gave ITV’s Martin Brundle this brilliant (but explicit) reason as to why:
His McLaren teammate for 2005-06, Juan Pablo Montoya, had also left the squad to seek new ventures in the world of NASCAR. McLaren had initially given Montoya’s seat to Pedro de La Rosa in mid-2006, but by 2007 both race seats were filled by Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton.
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