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Kimi Raikkonen would be taking part in what would be the 300th GP of his career this weekend at Monaco and as usual, he seems least bothered about that. True to his style Kimi dismissed the milestone as "something you come across if you race for a long time" and shunned his team from "making a big deal out of it".
When questioned regarding the milestone Kimi's reply was, "It’s no different from last week or the next race. In the end, this is just a number. For sure it’s different from the first race but after that, once you go on for a while, it doesn’t change".
True to his usual nonchalant self, Kimi has never made a big deal about anything in his illustrious F1 career and has been one of the most popular drivers on the grid ever since he stepped on the big stage in a Sauber in 2001.
With the Iceman making his 300th start we decided to look back on what has been an impressive, full of action and a successful journey that the Finn has enjoyed. Let's go through the Best moments of Finn's career as he goes about crossing another milestone.
#1 2001 Australian Grand Prix
Kimi Raikkonen in the eyes of many was not even supposed to be there. He was just 23 races old when the Sauber team decided to put him in the car and give the youngster a shot.
As it turned out, for a young Kimi, he adapted to a Formula One car like a fish adapts to water and was on the pace from the start. He had handling issues throughout qualifying but was able to still put his car in 13th position for the start of the race.
Come the race day the real racer inside the Finn stood up as he drove a measured yet fast pace throughout and continued his climb up the field into the points as he finished P6 at the end of the race. It was a race which vindicated Sauber's decision of backing Kimi when not many gave him a chance and with that race, Kimi made an immediate impact on the grid.
#2 2003 Malaysian Grand Prix
Kimi had been promoted to McLaren in only his second year in F1 and he was able to consistently put together some great results. He had lost out on a well-deserved win in France in 2002 when he spun because of oil on the track. He came into 2003 determined to prove a point and get that first win of his career. The F1 circus reached Malaysia and in qualifying Fernando Alonso put his Renault on the pole.
Kimi qualified some distance behind in P7 on a heavier fuel load. As the race commenced, one by one the contenders kept dropping away as Schumacher tangled with Trulli while Coulthard suffered a retirement.
Through all this Kiki had worked his way up to P2 and when the lightly fueled Renault of Alonso pitted Kimi, he started putting out faster laps to ultimately pit later and come out ahead of Alonso. It was an emotional occasion for the fans as well and a start of the first of many for the Iceman.
#3 2004 Belgian Grand Prix
Kimi had finished just 2 points behind the eventual champion Schumacher in 2003 and was looking forward to carrying that momentum into '04. As it turned out, McLaren messed up with its car and the Iceman scored just one in the first 7 races of the season which put him out of contention.
As the circus rolled on to the Spa in 2004, Kimi was well and truly out of the championship and what was left was just a salvaging act for the team. In a revamped McLaren, the Finn Started in a lowly 10th position and worked his way up the grid to win the race.
During the race, he overtook a whole bunch of cars ranging from his teammates Coulthard to Schumacher and ultimately setting the fastest lap of the race and winning.
#4 2005 Monaco Grand Prix
In a season of what could have been for McLaren where Raikkonen retired from the races while leading 3 times, Monaco was a race where Raikkonen established himself as the fastest driver on the grid.
In a direct dual between Kimi and Alonso, the two contenders for the title on a track where the drivers usually made the difference, Kimi got his elbows out and completely dominated the field.
He got the pole, was the fastest driver on the grid and led every lap of the race. Such was his domination and imperious drive that no-one ever came close to him in that weekend at any point in time. It was through his performance in this race and a few others that Raikkonen was awarded "Driver of the year" by both F1 Racing and Autosport.
#5 2005 Japanese Grand Prix
Your qualifying gets compromised because of rain. It puts you 17th on the grid behind all your rivals. And from that point, bit by bit you pick off one rival after the other and then ultimately in the dying stages you overtake the leader to win the race. That too on a track like Suzuka that is not entirely an overtaker's paradise.
Kimi in Suzuka, on that day, achieved in a race that not many could expect and not many people thought was at all possible. Overtaking and jumping the likes of Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso and in the dying stages overtaking Giancarlo Fisichella was a script that not many would have written for Kimi but there he was doing the completely improbable thing.
According to many if it wasn't for the unreliable cars that Mclaren dished out with regularity, Kimi could have won the title couple of times by now.
#6 2007 Australian Grand Prix
After consistently suffering from reliability issues and inconsistent cars during his stint at McLaren, Kimi finally made a move to Ferrari as Michael Schumacher announced his retirement from the sport. Kimi was considered by many as one of the top drivers on the grid and he dispelled any doubts that were there around him on his very first weekend with Ferrari.
After putting the car on pole in a commanding way, Kimi simply drove off and left the McLaren's Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton in his wake without either of them having any answers for Kimi's pace.
In his first race, Kimi took both the pole and the race victory to start a partnership that would ultimately result in him winning his first and only championship to date.
#7 2009 Belgian Grand Prix
Ferrari was not the class of the field in 2009 by any means. It was a season dominated by Brawn GP and the emergence of Red Bull during that season. Spa on the other hand completely threw the form book out and shuffled everything.
We had a Force India on the pole out of nowhere and being competitive. Kimi didn't qualify on the front row even. He used the KERS on his car to great effect as he was able to jump a few spots at the start.
During the Safety car restart, he was able to get the jump on Fisichella of the Force India. Although soon after it became evident that the Force India was more or less a match for the Ferrari, Kimi displayed amazing acumen as a driver and drove defensively throughout the race using the KERS at the right points on the track to keep Fisichella Behind.
This would turn out to be his last win with the Scuderia Ferrari before he came back to Formula One.
#8 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix
The race marked the return of Kimi into the big league. Kimi had taken a hiatus from Formula One and went for Rallying after the 2009 season. After a couple of seasons doing that, he was lured back to the grid by the Lotus team.
Not many knew how good he was going to be and there were certainly doubts around him and his commitment. In the first few races, he showed that he hadn't lost his speed or his racecraft and was impressing everyone with his driving.
Come to Bahrain, and Kimi qualified outside the top 10 and in an era where tire management was the king he slowly and steadily started scything his way through the field and by mid-race he was right on the back of Sebastian Vettel and fighting for the lead. Although that didn't materialize and Kimi had to settle for the second, he was able to show that he had lost none of his speed and he was still quite handy in a Formula One car.
#9 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
"Leave me alone I Know what I am doing", "Yes Yes I'm warming all the tyres you don't need to remind me every lap". Abu Dhabi was a race that made these team radio exchanges iconic. It had become a theme during Kimi's return that he'd convert an average qualifying position into a podium or a good result more often than not.
The car was one of the fastest in race trim but suffered in qualifying. In Abu Dhabi, Kimi benefited from Lewis Hamilton retiring from the lead and the Finn finding himself in the right place at the right time.
He drove a calm and composed race from that point even though the engineer on the radio was a bundle of nerves. He finished the race a clear victor ahead of Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel.
#10 2018 US Grand Prix
This stands as Kimi's last Grand Prix Victory till date. Kimi exhibited composed driving along with some great tire management skills as he beat Lewis Hamilton (the eventual drivers Champion of 2018) in a straight battle between the two.
Lewis started on the pole while Kimi was in P2. It looked like it would stay that way till the end but Mercedes opted to change their strategy to a two stopper fearing the loss of tread by the end of the race.
In what would turn out to be one of the failings of the strategy group, Kimi was able to stick to his one stopper. Throughout the race, he maintained a steady pace that was enough for him to snatch the win.
Even though there was a minor threat during the end of the race from Max Verstappen, it never looked like Kimi was ever in any kind of trouble throughout the race. The race did ultimately justify Ferrari's decision of sticking with Kimi for so long despite him not performing at his expected level.
