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The 2018 Formula 1 season is about to end, with only 3 more Grands Prix remaining (Mexican, Brazillian, and Abu Dhabi). Sebastian Vettel's performances since the break have been way below par. This gave Lewis Hamilton the chance to win the Drivers' Championship at the most recent US Grand Prix at Austin.
But, Max Verstappen beat Hamilton for the second spot, thus postponing the Englishman's chances to win his 5th World Championship by another race. But all eyes were on 'The Iceman' Kimi Raikkonen, as he won his first Grand Prix since Australia in 2013.
Apart from taking Ferrari closer to Mercedes in the Constructors Championship, Raikkonen broke quite a few records with his win at Austin. Here are a few facts about The Iceman's win at the US Grand Prix:
#4 Raikkonen is the oldest driver to win a Grand Prix since 1994
Raikkonen became the second oldest driver to win a Grand Prix and the oldest to win it since Nigel Mansell won at Adelaide at the age of 41. Mansell, a veteran World Champion retired in 1992, made a comeback with Williams in the year 1994 and won the final Grand Prix of the season, and his career.
Raikkonen, who has been in the scene since 2001, won his first Grand Prix at Malaysia in 2003, with McLaren. Kimi made a move to Ferrari in 2007 and won the World Championship that very year. He stayed with Ferrari till 2009 and retired, only to make a comeback in 2012 for Lotus and claim a stunning victory at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix where the famous Kimi Raikkonen quote "Leave me alone, I know what I'm doing" was quoted on the team radio.
In 2013, the Finn won the season opener at Australia, which was also his last with Lotus-Renault. Following certain disputes with his the team Lotus, Kimi joined Ferrari in 2014 and has been racing with them since.
After a record-breaking lap at Monza, Raikkonen was set to win the Italian Grand Prix, only to see it be snatched away by Lewis Hamilton. But after a great start to the US Grand Prix, and an early overtake to go ahead of the rest of the pack, the Finn never gave up his position and ultimately won the race at Austin.
Raikkonen will be leaving Ferrari at the end of the season but, will be returning to Sauber next year, the team where he started his F1 career in 2001.
#3 Raikkonen broke the record for the biggest gap between race victories
The US Grand Prix was Raikkonen's 21st career win. His 20th win came in Australia in 2013, which was 2044 days and 113 races ago. The 39-year-old's last Ferrari win was 140 races ago in Belgium in 2009.
He holds the record for the longest gap between 2 successive wins in F1 history. The previous record was held by Ricardo Patrese, which was 99 races. Patrese's first ever career win came at Monaco in the year 1982, and he last won in Japan in the year 1992.
With 3 more races to go in the current season, Raikkonen is in the third place on the Drivers' Championship table, followed by his fellow countryman Valtteri Bottas in 4th place.
#2 He has won more races than any other Finnish driver
Since the Championship began in 1950, there have been 9 Finnish drivers. Keke Rosberg was the first Finn to win the Drivers' Championship in 1982. Mika Hakkinen was the only one to become a double World Champion (1998 and 1999), and Raikkonen is the most recent to win the Championship in 2007.
Prior to this, Hakkinen had 20 Grand Prix wins in his career, but after the victory in Austin, Raikkonen has 21 career wins, which makes him the most successful Finnish driver, in terms of race wins.
Valtteri Bottas is the other driver from Finland, who currently drives for Mercedes, and is contracted to drive for them until the end of 2019.
#1 Only driver to win a race in V10, V8, and Hybrid engines
The 39-year-old World Champion also became the only driver in the history of Formula 1 to win a race using 3 different engines - V10, V8, and V6.
Formula 1 engines have gone through a lot of changes and regulations over the years. Kimi was part of the McLaren team from 2002-2006, that used V10 engines till 2005. Kimi won his first race in 2003 with a McLaren Mercedes V10 engine.
From 2006, the car had to be equipped with a 2.4-litre V8 engine. Raikkonen won his first and only World Championship using this engine for Ferrari in 2007.
The FIA in 2014 announced a change in all engines from V8, to a 1.6 litre V6 turbo engine. These engines are being used in the current season as well, and will be used until at least 2021.
