Raikkonen holds the record – highlights of his career, part 2

This Sunday at the Nürburgring, Kimi Räikkönen will set the record for the most Formula 1 starts. A special program will highlight the “Iceman” and the second half of his career, from 2010 to 2020.

When Kimi Räikkönen swapped Formula 1 slick tires for the dirt tracks of the World Rally Championship, few could have imagined that this detour would whet the Finnish driver's appetite for the top step of the podium. Supported by Citroën and Red Bull, his WRC debut in 2010 was difficult: out of 13 events, he crossed the finish line eight times, scored points in five of them, and finished the season in tenth place with 25 points. A year later, Citroën entrusted him with the brand new DS3 WRC. Although he competed in nine of the twelve rounds and made a more consistent start, the final result was the same: tenth in the overall standings, now with 34 points. But the call of the Grand Prix was becoming increasingly urgent. After discussions in early 2010, Renault's offer at the end of 2011 opened the door to a seat at Lotus for 2012. The former Enstone factory, now under the Lotus banner, welcomed the “Iceman” back to the front of the grid.

His first race in Melbourne ended with a modest 17th place in qualifying, but the Finn quickly found his rhythm. Out of the twenty races on the 2012 calendar, he only missed out on points once and ended the year on a high note with a spectacular victory in Abu Dhabi, just two weeks after signing a new contract for 2013. That victory was a statement: “Leave me alone, I know what I'm doing,” he told his engineer, a mantra that resonated throughout the season. Räikkönen finished third in the drivers' championship, accumulating 207 points, more than double the 96 points scored by his teammate Romain Grosjean.

This momentum continued into 2013. A bold gamble on tires earned him victory in the season opener in Australia, mirroring his success in his debut in 2007. From there, he added seven more podium finishes, including six second places, and remained a genuine contender for third place on the final podium. Räikkönen's brief foray into rallying, far from being incidental, proved to be a crucible that forged a comeback worthy of his own legend.

The drama that ended Kimi Räikkönen's first stint at Lotus had less to do with his performance on the track than with a cash flow crisis that left the Finnish champion without a salary. Even a rescue consortium failed to convince the “Iceman” to stay; with two races left in the 2013 season, he chose to leave and return to the team that had crowned him world champion for the first time: Ferrari.

From 2014 to 2018, Räikkönen was no longer the headline-grabbing winner, but a reliable mainstay of the Scuderia. He returned just as the era of V6 turbo hybrid engines was beginning, sharing the garage with two-time champion Fernando Alonso. The new regulations proved difficult to master: in 2014, he struggled to adapt to the new braking system and finished 12th with 55 points, far behind Alonso, who was sixth with 161 points.

The arrival of Sebastian Vettel in 2015 changed the team's dynamic. Räikkönen was expected to score points and support his new teammate, who quickly racked up three wins with the SF-15. The Finn managed to secure a respectable fourth place in the overall standings with 150 points, but he was still 128 points behind Vettel. The following two seasons saw Ferrari fall behind the dominant Mercedes and Red Bull teams. Räikkönen's best results were four podium finishes in 2016 and a pole position in Monaco in 2017, where a strategic error allowed Vettel to take the win. In 2018, he finally managed to break through again, taking pole position at Monza in front of the Tifosi and winning the United States Grand Prix in Austin, beating Lewis Hamilton despite having older tires. But the team was already looking to the next generation: Charles Leclerc, fresh out of the Ferrari Driver Academy, was tipped to replace Räikkönen in 2019.

The new chapter in Räikkönen's career brought him back to the team that had launched him, now renamed Alfa Romeo. In 2019, alongside Antonio Giovinazzi, also a graduate of the Academy, he scored points in six of the first ten races, hinting at a promising comeback. However, the C38 was hampered by a limited budget, and the highlight of the season—a fourth-place finish in Brazil behind Verstappen, Gasly, and Sainz—proved to be the only bright spot. The year 2020 was much less forgiving. The car suffered from a lack of aerodynamic downforce and a lagging Ferrari engine, allowing Räikkönen to scrape together a single point in the chaotic Tuscan Grand Prix at Mugello. A narrowly avoided crash at Monza (13th) highlighted his difficulties, and at the end of the season he was 17th in the drivers' standings with just two points, the worst result of his career, in stark contrast to his previous best finish of 12th in 2014 and 2019.

Despite these disappointing statistics, the 41-year-old Finn has not hung up his helmet. Negotiations are underway to extend his contract with Alfa Romeo for 2021, which would allow him to add a new chapter to a career that spans nearly two decades and continues to defy expectations.