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 Kimi Räikkönen PERSONAL PROFILE Kimi Räikkönen, a native of Lappeeranta in Finland, began karting in 1991 and competed in national kart races, Class Mini and then Class Raket Junior throughout 1991, 1992 and 1993. He also participated in the Finnish Cup in 1993, when he finished ninth. In 1994, he was able to improve to second and as a consequence was able to move up to the Formula A series in 1995.
He continued karting throughout the European series from 1996 to 1999 with some notable achievements. He was the Finnish Formula A champion in 1997 and 1998, and was also second in the European (karting) Grand Prix in 1998 and third in the Monaco Cup. In 1999, he entered his first Formula Renault race, with Haywood, where he finished third.
2000 saw him competing in British Formula Renault full-time, where he finished on the podium in all ten of the races that he contested and secured the championship crown despite only competing in those 10 events. Räikkönen also took part in three rounds of the European Formula Renault championship, where he won twice, took pole position twice and set two fastest lap times.
At that time, he caught the eye of Peter Sauber, who invited him to test for his formula1 team. The Swiss outfit was so impressed with his performance that they began contractual negotiations to secure him as their second race driver for at least 2001.
The FIA, however, were not keen on granting such an inexperienced driver with a Superlicence and Räikkönen caused a storm of controversy when he finally obtained his permit in December of 2000, despite only having competed in 23 car races throughout his career, most of which were in Formula Renault.
In order to get his licence, which was actually provisional for the first few races, Räikkönen put in a lot of testing kilometres at the end of 2000 to prove he had the speed and ability to compete at the highest levels. And even though in the final FIA vote to decide whether or not to grant him the licence, Max Mosley, the FIA president, voted against him, the young Finn got the ok for a provisional licence.
The rest, as they say is history, and Räikkönen went on to prove many pundits, as well as Max Mosley, wrong with driving displays that one would expect in a driver with at least a few years experience. Incredibly, the Finn managed to qualify thirteenth for his first Grand Prix and actually scored a point for his sixth place, although this was achieved by the fact that BAR's Olivier Panis was given a time penalty for overtaking under a yellow flag and was subsequently demoted from fourth to seventh. None the less, it was a great achievement.
The rest of the 2001 season also went well for the Finn, notching up nine points from 10 race finishes, including two excellent fourth places in Austria and Canada, and although his team mate, Nick Heidfeld, produced better results, the limelight seemed to always be on Räikkönen.
For 2002, Räikkönen will switch teams and drive for McLaren as a replacement for his fellow compatriot, Mika Häkkinen, who will be taking a sabbatical, From the initial results of Räikkönen's testing times, he looks set to give his team mate, David Coulthard, a good fight.  CAREER HIGHLIGHTS | 2001 | Impressive debut season with Sauber, taking 9 points and finishing 10th in the championship. Showed his natural speed by taking 10 top ten qualifying positions during the season. | | | | 2000 | British Formula Renault champion, despite only contesting two rounds. Competes in three rounds of the European Formula Renault series, and takes two wins, two pole positions and two fastest laps. He retires from the third race with mechanical failure. | | | | 1999 | 2nd in Finnish (Karting) Championship, class Formula A. 10th in World (Karting) Championship, class Formula Super A. 3rd in first Formula Renault race, with Haywood Racing. Wins the Formula Renault Winter Series with Manor Motorsport - he takes four wins in four races. | | | | 1998 | Finnish Karting Champion. 1st in Nordic (karting) Championship. 1st in Class Formula Intercontinental A karting series. 2nd in European Karting Grand Prix, class Super A. 3rd in Monaco Cup, class Super A. Retired from 7th in the World Championship, Formula Super A. | | | | 1997 | 1st in Finnish Championship, Class Intercontinental A. 4th in Nordic Championship, Class Intercontinental A. Competes in Karting Grand Prix races and World Championship races. | | | | 1996 | Competes in Karting Grand Prix Races (European Series), World Championship races and Nordic Championship races. 4th in Finnish Championship, Class Formula A. | | | | 1995 | Moves up to Formula A. He wins his first race and competes in the Monaco Cup for invited drivers, where he retires from 4th position (on his birthday). | | | | 1993 | Competes in national karting races, Class Raket. 9th in the Finnish Cup. | | | | 1992 | Competes in national karting, Class Raket Junior. | | | | 1991 | Competes in national karting, Class Mini. | | | | 1990 | Takes part in Karting for fun, he wins some races in Classes A, B and C. | | | | 1989 | He receives his first Kart. Information taken from formula1.com |
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