Fourth In Monza didn't help, and with four rounds to go, he was now 27 points behind Alonso, championship already looking like it was a game over. If he had won at Imola and Germany, it would have been nip-and-tuck with Alonso, but still, a great season for the Iceman. The case of McLaren's car being good for one season and bad for another seemed to have been proven, with being more reliable than '04 but the car just wasn't as quick as the Renault's or Ferrari's.
Thus ensued a tough battle for podiums throughout the season, with McLaren failing to pick up a win. In the opener at Bahrain Kimi qualified P22 and finished P3, just showcasing his skill at overtaking the field.
In Australia he took P2, and then over the next three races took small points scores, meaning by Spain he was third in the championship. He retired in Monaco after qualifying P3, but then took two podiums in Canada and at Silverstone, meaning somehow he was still in third place in the drivers championship halfway through the season.
But then over the next seven races he retired four times, although he picked up two podiums in Germany and Monza. At Monza it was announced that after five seasons with McLaren, Raikkonen would be moving to Ferrari, replacing Michael Schumacher, who won the race.
Two fifth places at Interlagos and Suzuka summed up his season at McLaren, finished in fifth place in the drivers championship, taking six podium finishes.
At Ferrari, he won his first race with them in Australia, showcasing the speed the Ferrari had previewed in winter testing, however the McLaren's were certainly there, with Alonso P2 and Hamilton P3. A retirement in Spain did not help his championship campaign and some mediocre results in Monaco, Canada and the USA some not down to him were slowly putting the Iceman out of contention for the F1 world championship as the season entered the halfway point.
However two consecutive race wins in France and Silverstone - the latter being an absolute corker! Another retirement, this time in Germany really didn't help, but then he scored the consecutive podiums and a win at his favourite circuit at Spa mean't he was still in with a shout with three rounds to go, thirteen points behind Hamilton and and eleven behind Alonso. All of this occurred during the infamous spygate era.
At Fuji it was one of the wettest ever seen in F1, reminisent of the title decider at the very same circuit. Raikkonen was at one point near the back of the grid but managed a excellent P3, on par with the talent showcased by Hamilton to win in trecherous conditions. At China whilst leading the race Lewis Hamilton stayed out too long on the intermediates and could not make the pit lane, beeching his car in the gravel.
This gifted Kimi the win, with Alonso P2. He was now seven points behind Hamilton and three behind Alonso, reminiscent of , but this all seemed too late. At the start Raikkonen and Alonso jumped him, then around halfway through the race a mechanical cost him the championship. All of a sudden with Raikkonen in P2, it looked like Alonso might take a third consecutive championship title, but Ferrari enlisted team-orders to gift Raikkonen the win and therefore the championship by one point.
After seven seasons in Formula One, Kimi Raikkonen had finally won the world championship. The opening race in Melbourne: P16 in qualifying due to a broken fuel pump, and finished P8 in what was his first race as the defending champion.
Not a great start, however over the next four races Kimi took two wins in Malaysia and Spain, plus two podiums in Bahrain and Turkey reasserted himself as a championship contender. Two non-points finishes in Monaco and Canada did not help at all, dropping him to fourth in the championship. A second place in France helped, although a problem with the car cost him the victory to his team-mate Felipe Massa, who began to look like the best shot for Ferrari to win the drivers championship.
Some middling points scores plus a podium just about kept him in contention but then four non-points finishes mean't he was definitely out of the championship battle, now assisting Massa's championship hopes. In the final three races he took three P3's, practically summing his season up. It wasn't as successful as many had hoped, especially with Hamilton winning the title, but Ferrari had won the constructors title. This showed in the opening part of the season.
After five races, Raikkonen's best finish was P6. Monaco was a reminder of what he could achieve in a car that shouldn't be able to, finishing P3, his first podium of the season. After another string of low-points finishes, Raikkonen went on a small roll, taking P2 in Hungary, third in Germany, winning the race in a close fight with Fisichella in Belgium, his fourth of his career, and then another podium in Monza to the delight of the Tifosi.
His season finished rather dismally, a P4 in Suzuka the highlight, and it was announced that Raikkonen would leave the sport and take a sabbatical due to Ferrari's desire to have Alonso for the season, despite being the second highest paid sportsman in the world at the time.
It was announced shortly after the season that Raikkonen would be racing in the World Rally Championship for the Junior Citroen team. This was an interesting shift to a different category, especially considering that WRC and F1 don't really have much in common. But of course you say! Raikkonen is Finn, which means he should be able to do Scandinavian flicks at his pleasure.
Raikkonen wasn't actually that bad in a WRC car. He scored five points finishes in eleven rallies, including an impressive fifth place in Turkey. He finished the drivers championship in tenth place, nowhere near where he was at in F1 with Ferrari, but he was enjoying himself. In he raced under his own team, called ICE 1 imagine if that was a F1 team?
Maybe for the future? In his opening six rallies, he scored points in all of them, consistently finishing sixth or seventh, which is not only impressive for a driver who only had one year experience in the sport but also under his own team.
He scored more points in the season, but also finished in tenth place, but during the twilight rallies of the season, it was announced that after two years out, Raikkonen would be coming back to F1, with the new Team Lotus. This was an interesting move on Raikkonen's part. Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull were all locked up for , it was thought that around the Singapore GP that Raikkonen would be indeed returning to the sport, but with Williams.
However these turned out to be false rumours, and he joined the Lotus team. After being told over a call that a deal had been reached for him to drive for Ferrari in , he threw his mobile into the sea. Not sure why. Maybe the thought alone of all the congratulatory texts was too much for him. This is a well-known one, but one Ferrari fans would have refused to believe if they had been told it back when he won the title in Brazil in That season, he put together a monumental late run of form to pip McLaren duo Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton and become a World Champion, and nobody in red has been able to do that since.
Felipe Massa and Alonso both narrowly missed out in season finales, while Sebastian Vettel lost out twice in battles with the Mercedes of Hamilton.
Clearly, Kimi is a tough act to follow…. Notification msg. He was torn between ice hockey and motorsport Like many, many people in Finland, Kimi grew up with a love for ice hockey — so much so that, when he was young, he had serious trouble deciding whether to pursue a career in that or motorsport. He is a record-breaker on and off the track Kimi has broken a number of records during his 19 seasons in F1 and, as detailed in The Unknown Kimi Raikkonen, a biography written by Kari Hotakainen, it was a habit he picked up long before he joined the grid.
He is the only driver to win in the V10, V8 and hybrid eras We have mentioned he has set a number of records in F1 and this is one of the perhaps slightly lesser-known but equally impressive ones.
The Finn granted Kari Hotakainen exclusive access to his life at home and at the track, with the author also speaking to those who are closest to the time race winner. It was he who gave Raikkonen the nickname, writes Hotakainen. A little later, the role will entail wearing dark glasses everywhere except in the shower.
The duo shared little in common, apart from perhaps their desire for order at home. Everything has to be straight, papers and things. Raikkonen may have been known as someone who liked to party early in his career, but now he is a family man. Life has changed since his two kids, with wife Minttu, were born. Spending around days a year away is not ideal.
We were always together in my family, because we were all into motorsports. No one asks stupid questions, for one. That is unless Robin wants to play, which as he has grown up, is now pretty much all the time. From both sides que thread starter. Originally posted by Antonio He was unique and still is unique, specially off the track. I cannot remember any driver with so many "incidents" recently. Originally posted by Menace Did I say that?
Originally posted by xype Will you come back if he messes up so we can make fun of you? Or will you only come back if he wins? Originally posted by rfus He is called iceman cause he can take set backs and drive without them affecting his race. I thought that was common knowlegde. Ron has mentioned it many times. Originally posted by prty As far as I know, that nickname came from his first win at Malaysia, where he said he didn't feel anything special.
Since then people call him Iceman. And to be honest, it's just a nickname, like magic Senna or whatever, who cares about that? Originally posted by xype Don't take my comments in this thread too seriously. If there's anything I admire in Kimi is that he's no drama queen about broken cars or mistakes.
Contrast that to Massa, who always finds something not quite working as he'd liked in qualifying and races and I know who I'd put my money on if they were in a championship deciding race situation.
Originally posted by sek Ok, It's quite fair to say that most of us finns don't show too much emotions. But finns are cold people? Compared to what? Heh, have you never been in Finland? Originally posted by monto specially under pressure the "Iceman" tends to melt as we saw at Monza and now in Interlagos. Originally posted by Captain Cranckcase Hakkinen was also called the Iceman, basically cos he displayed little emotion as well, even though he cried once.
He's been on a mission impossible car reliability for the whole year. I would think that the real pressure comes, when the championship points gap is under 10 points and there are only few races left and he's been there. All rights reserved. Community Forum Software by IP. Javascript Disabled Detected You currently have javascript disabled. Why is Kimi called " Iceman "? Started by stardust , Sep 24 Page 1 of 2 1 2 Next. Posted 24 September - Alonso is accused to be a employee and Kimi an "iceman" that never makes mistakes.
Posted 24 September - He's called the Iceman because he's Finish basically and it's cold there and they're cold people who display no emotion. Posted 24 September - Originally posted by stardust Alonso is accused to be a employee and Kimi an "iceman" that never makes mistakes.
Posted 24 September - Originally posted by Captain Cranckcase He's called the Iceman because he's Finish basically and it's cold there and they're cold people who display no emotion. Ok, It's quite fair to say that most of us finns don't show too much emotions. Posted 24 September - I thoght Raikonenn was cold " iceman " for his attachment to " whiskey on the rocks " : This seems to be the only "ice" that matches him.
Posted 24 September - Originally posted by sek Or Canada or Come on guys, was not a bad year for Alonso, honestly. I agree. The press like creating this "nicknames" to play with, pure nonsense. Posted 24 September - Originally posted by Antonio Come on guys, was not a bad year for Alonso, honestly. This bashing is getting stupid Well, what can you expect in a thread like this?
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