Feb 13, 2006 09:24 PM
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(Updated Feb 13, 2006 09:24 PM)
Formula 1 is a world for the exceptionally quick guys amongst us who dared to dream. A dreamy eyed youngster called Kimi Raikkonen made his Formula One debut in 2001 at Melbourne driving a Sauber. His entry into the world of F1 was highly controversial since he had driven only 23 competitive races before that. He was hired by Peter Sauber, Sauber boss, on the basis of his performance at a testing session. The youngster from Finland lapped just 0.8 seconds slower than Michael Schumacher and was singed on the spot.
That fateful testing session changed his life forever. From an unknown lad he became an instant celebrity. Mclaren-Mercedes at this time were looking for a replacement for Finnish mega star Mika Hakkinen and were about to sign Nick Heidfeld when the Raikkonen option came up. instead of signing Heidfeld, Mclaren signed his rookie teammate Kimi Raikkonen for 2002. This pushed him into the big league where he was expected to rub noses with the likes of the Schumacher brothers. Kimi lived up to the hype around him and drove well.
At Malaysia 2003, Kimi won his first Formula One Grand Prix. His usually unemotional face conveyed all his feelings for once: his elation, jubiliation and joy were clearly visible. That year, Kimi drove exceptionally well and almost became world champion. Michael Schumacher managed a close triumph over the Finnish driver after a season-long battle. For 2004, things were looking upbeat. But traditional Mclaren unreliability meant that Kimi was not able to score too many points with the helpless car that Mclaren had provided him with.
However, Mclaren decided to launch a new car mid-season at the French GP. This car was quicker and more reliable than its predescor. Kimi finished second at the British Grand Prix and won at Belgium. He also stood on the podium in China and Brazil. The feverishly quick Kimi was back- with a vengeance.
2005 lived up to its reputation of being a silly season. Experts had predicted that 2005 would be totally different from 2004 & it would be an unpredictable season. All that came true. Even though McLaren had the quicker car, renault ran away with both the driver's as well a as constructor's championship. The only reason was that Mclaren's car (the MP4-21) was unreliable and had an uncanny knack of breaking down at the worst possible time. Again, Raikkonen became the beidesmaid and stood second to Fernando Alonso. But given an oppurtunity in a reliable car, I think that Kimi will be champion and will beat Schumacher and Alonso. Let us hope for the best and wish that Mclaren manage to churn out a reliable car for 2006.
KIMI RAIKKONEN STATISTICS AND RATINGS
Races : 87
victories : 9
Podiums : 30
Poles : 8
qualifying : 9/10
race skill : 10/10
PR skill : 8.5/10
