17th October 1979 is a day to be always remembered in the formula 1 history, as a day when a game changer in Formula 1 was born. While the Finnish family were merrymaking because of the birth of a long awaited son, they never knew what had offered them.Kimi Raikkonen is always a legend among legend. Right from a tender age of 10, he took the wheels like a person takes to life. Life for him behind the wheels was his piece of haven. Winning various karting events in Finland as well as abroad. His dedication and perseverance behind the wheels was indeed compared to legends.The dedication shown by Kimi in such a tender age was in fact missing in many aged racers.And indeed this was a talent not be among the crowds but be taken care of.And that is what was exactly done by Peter Sauber, the owner of Sauber Formula 1 team.Despite allegations of pitching a youngster in this battle of biggies, Peter believed his gut and put in a pawn to take on the kings and queens if Formula 1.Formula 1 president at that time, Max Mosley, was not willing to part with the Super License of Formula 1,a mandatory requirement for all racers, for Kimi, given his novice track record of only 23 races to under his belt. But nevertheless nothing can take away a thing which is your right and Kimi more than deserved that licence.Kimi showed his prowess right from the beginning. A great racer in mind and having a great engine in his command, Kimi in his debut year,2001 went on to capture 9 championship points and secure 10th position in the Driver’s Championship. His this gallant effort to bring about the best in him paved a new path for not only Kimi’s success but gave Sauber their best position in the Constructor’s table,i.e. 4th.And then as his experience grew so did his knack for racing.Seeing this powerhouse in making, Kimi was next hired by McLaren to drive their Mercedes FO 110M 3.0 V10 engine d car. This season showed the Formula 1 sodality that a World Champion was indeed in making. He ended the season with 4 podium finishes and a near victory. And this heroic performance of Kimi gave McLaren a solid 3rd place in the Constructor’s table.The next season was godlike for Kimi. He secured 10 podium and his debut win at Malaysian Circuit. This season made him escalate from a mere 6th position last year to a whopping 2nd position in the Driver’s Championship table defending it from none other than a legend of Formula 1 Rubens Barrichello.As in every champion’s history failure is bound to follow after success and so it did for Kimi also. After a dramatic and ecstatic 2003 season, Kimi crash landed his dream flight in 2004 season. Not able to handle the new McLaren car as well as experiencing many technical faults, Kimi ended that season disastrously in 7th position.But a true gladiator is the one who knows how to fight back and this Finnish knew his way back into the arena.Cometh 2005, cometh a champion who knows how to end his days of gloom with victory. In 2005 Kimi secured 12 podiums including 7 races seeing his fly past the checkered flag with panache. That year he regained his 2nd spot in the Driver Championship’s table and also won two prestigious awards of the F1 Racing “Driver of the Year” accolade,and the Autosport “International Racing Driver of the Year” award. This season again showed the Finnish’s fans that he was worth cheering for in spite of his failures.The next season saw him a little off his form. With just 3 podiums and many retirements, Kimi finished 5th in that year’s Driver Championship table.Just when people came to think Kimi has bitten the dust. Kimi again proved the critics wrong with his near perfect heroics in 2007 season. After being purchased from McLaren with record deal of whopping 51 million dollars Kimi showed Ferrari that he was indeed worth every penny worth. 2007 was a season when the racing world saw that always the top contender for the World Championship title was at last crowned the World Champion. A year which saw such close finishes that was never seen before. Kimi was crowned the World Champion by 1 point above the runners up Alonso and Hamilton and thereby denying Alonso his third consecutive world championship title.The next season saw him fall to 3rd place in the championship but none the less he had given his best to not let the racers take home an easy victory.The next season saw him with just 1 victory in the dominated Brawn GP. He finished 6th and then that season problems with Ferrari’s new sponsor,Spanish bank Santander led to his call for retirement from the sport paving for Alonso’s switch to Ferrari.After a few years of rallying in his country, the believed to be completely off the tracks, Kimi again bounced back in style in 2012 Formula 1 season with a new team, Lotus. With a 5 podium and a win in Abu Dhabi ,Kimi stated the world that the racing spirit had not died in him. Finishing 3rd in the Driver’s championship table, Kimi showed his fans that this Iceman can turn things around whenever he wanted to.Rising like phoenix from his own ashes of faults in 2012 season Kimi is now giving all the racers a ride for their money. Having a perfect start to the 2013 season Kimi secured a win straight away in the first race in Australian Grand Prix and 2 podium finishes in China and Bahrain Grand Prix bringing the present table leader Sebastian Vettle in shooting range with just 10 points difference.When critics said, he is too young to cope up with pressure of racing, he awed them with his brave moves in the track, when people said he was too old to make a comeback again he surprised them with his wins and crazy driving abilities, indeed he is the “ICEMAN”, who can twist and turn any race and any result, truly a name worth noting in the history of Formula 1
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