The 2007 F1 champion, Kimi Räikönnen, has announced that as of the end of the 2021 Formula 1 season, he will retire from the sport. This marks the end of a world-record career spanning over 20 years, and by the end of the season, over 350 entries.
Kimi Räikkönen retires from F1
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He’s had more starts than any F1 driver, breaking the record at the 2020 Eifel Grand Prix. By the end of this season, he should have made over 350 starts. He’s scored 1,865 points, started on pole 18 times, finished on the podium 103 times, scored 46 fastest laps and won 21 Grands Prix.
Of those race wins, six of them, along with four third-place finishes, helped him to his 2007 F1 World Championship while with Ferrari. In doing so he denied Lewis Hamilton his first World Championship by a single point. Kimi’s F1 career spans Sauber, McLaren, Ferrari, Lotus, and Alfa Romeo. For a stint in 2010 and 2011, he briefly tried his hand at rallying and NASCAR while on a break from F1.
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Where did the ‘Iceman’ name come from? Of course, there has to be some reference to the frosty climate of Kimi’s home country Finland. Likewise, it reflects a temperament that’s as legendarily cool behind the wheel as it is with fellow drivers and the media.
A proven racer and a measured persona that in his 20-year career, has captivated the imaginations of F1 fans the world over. The grid will feel strange without him next year.
Images courtesy of Motorsport Images
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