Raikkonen equals Schumacher's point-scoring record

Although the Canadian Grand Prix saw Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel grab all the limelight, a small but significant statistic was born elsewhere. Stats might be of little value but sometimes they betray a value that often goes unrecognized. Kimi Raikkonen made his way to the 9th position at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve with Team Lotus, thus equaling Schumacher’s record of 24 successive races where he earned at least 1 point. Though he ran it really close at both Canada and Monaco, Raikkonen’s achievement is a mark of his dedication to the sport.

Raikkonen, who returned to F1 after a brief retirement, has embarked on a successful campaign with Lotus. He began his point-scoring stretch from Bahrain last year and he has been on the mark ever since, winning multiple podium finishes and two victories – at Abu Dhabi last year and the Australian Grand Prix this year. The former world champion’s run almost ended at Monaco during the last Grand Prix, when he had to overtake three cars in the last two laps to recover to 10th position. Raikkonen’s performances coming out of his retirement may not have surprised many given the enormous experience and the talent the driver has, but it does buck the trend of many futile comebacks.

The point scoring system has undergone a change from the time Schumacher achieved his record, and that gives a considerable advantage to Raikkonen. Till 2003, points were scored by the top 6 drivers only whereas the privilege was extended to 10 drivers thereafter. Raikonnen has 7 performances out of 24 in which he finished below the 6th position. However, Raikkonen himself does not give much value to such numbers and modestly understated his achievement. On his record, he said, “I am sure that it will all stop at some point. Obviously we always try to get points and do good races but it can be some small part (that breaks) and it will stop. Of course it would be nice. It’s already nice now and every time with this team. In the past I kept retiring quite often so it’s different for sure to what it was in the past. But I’m sure that we will have some difficulties at some point.”

Sidelining his personal achievement, he stressed the importance of putting in better performances with the team, going ahead. In fact, he was rather ruthless at himself and expressed disappointment at the result the team achieved at Monaco and at Canada. “I don’t care about that (the record). I care about scoring the points, but not about any records.” This desire to be competitive has seen Raikkonen emerge as one of the title contenders this season. He slipped to the third position in the driver’s tally as Fernando Alonso finished just behind Sebastian Vettel to pip him to second place. Raikonnen gathered momentum at the beginning of the season, finishing strongly at China, Bahrain and Spain with podium finishes. The last two races have not gone his way but he is determined to put things back into place.

Schumacher’s record that was equaled by Raikkonen had come in the period of 2001 to 2003. He began picking up points at the 2001 Hungarian Grand Prix and never stopped till it ended, with a sixth place finish at the Malaysian Grand Prix in 2003. Many records have been analyzed and many opinions stated in comparison, that is often made between these two champions, and though Schumacher often leads these discussions with a considerable margin ,the Finnish driver has made a loyal following for himself. His career with McLaren and Ferrari was one punctuated by triumphs and memorable races at a most exciting time for F1 fans.

It will be interesting to see how Raikkonen makes up for the points he dropped at the Canadian Grand Prix. He languishes behind Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso with 88 points and a gap of 44 points between him and the driver’s standings leader. Yet, Raikkonen has shown that he can punch above his weight with the Lotus car and a few podium finishes might bridge this gap considerably. The upcoming races see him travelling to some of his favored destinations and you can always count on the Iceman to deliver his best.