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Kimi Raikkonen on the cusp of history: A trip down memory lane ahead of The Iceman's 324th F1 race

Peter Hanson 09/10/2020 | 07:00 MYT

Kimi Raikkonen will this weekend set a new Formula One record that his legion of fans are sure to find as cool as The Iceman's legendary laid-back persona.

The Alfa Romeo driver is set to start for the 324th time in the series, beating the previous benchmark set by Rubens Barrichello that Raikkonen equalled last time out.

Raikkonen won the F1 world title for Ferrari in 2007 before departing a couple of years later to try his hand at rallying and NASCAR.

But the flying Finn returned in 2012 for another crack in F1 and here we take a trip down Raikkonen's memory lane ahead of the Eifel Grand Prix at the Nurburgring. 

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HOW THE GRID LOOKED ON DEBUT

Raikkonen made his F1 bow almost 20 years ago at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix, qualifying 13th for Sauber.

The legendary Michael Schumacher led a Ferrari one-two on the grid from, fittingly, Barrichello on that occasion, with two-time world champions Mika Hakkinen beginning third for McLaren.

To really put into perspective the longevity of Raikkonen's excellent career, both David Coulthard and Eddie Irvine were still racing as was Jos Verstappen, the father of Red Bull's current F1 superstar Max Verstappen.

Schumacher went on to dominate the race, with Coulthard working through the pack to take second ahead of Barrichello, while Hakkinen retired due to suspension failure. 

Raikkonen impressively secured a sixth-place finish, with his performance earning plenty of praise from F1 pundits.

THE OPTA FACTS

- This weekend will see Raikkonen take part in his 324th grand prix, surpassing the record he levelled with Barrichello last time out.

- The Finn has raced in 30 different Grands Prix in those 323 previous races. The Eifel GP will be his 31st. Spain, United Kingdom, Hungary and Italy are the Grands Prix where he has raced the most (18 each).

- With 21 F1 wins in his career, Raikkonen has won the most at the Belgium Grand Prix. He has taken the chequered flag at the race four times.

- Raikkonen of course started his F1 career in Australia in 2001 for Sauber. His 100th race was in Turkey for McLaren in 2006 (DNF). The 200th race came in Canada six years ago for Ferrari (10th), and the 300th for his current team Alfa Romeo in Monaco 2019 (7th).

- His only F1 World Championship came in 2007, in no other season did he reach more podiums than that one (12, alongside 2005 and 2018).

- However, the year where Raikkonen won the most races in a single season was in 2005 (seven wins).

- With 103 podiums to his name, Raikkonen is fifth on F1's all-time list. Lewis Hamilton leads the way with an astonishing 159.

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WHERE WAS LEWIS?

Back on Raikkonen's first F1 start, Schumacher was the dominant driver on the grid and he went on to win the fourth of his seven world titles in 2001.

Nowadays, of course, it is Hamilton breaking most of the German's long-standing records but his bow in F1 was still six years away when Raikkonen first entered the grid.

In 2001, Hamilton was racing in the British Formula Renault Winter Series and also went head-to-head against Schumacher in kart racing at the German's home track at Kerpen.

A lot has changed since then…

#McLaren #Ferrari #Kimi Räikkönen #Sauber #Motorsport #F1 World Championship #Alfa Romeo #Lotus
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