Kimi Raikkonen, known as the “Iceman”- due to his calm approach to his daily tasks- and described as the fastest driver on the planet is currently racing for the World Rally Championship.
Raikkonen started his Formula One career with Sauber in 2001 and then raced for McLaren from 2002-06. He had success with McLaren but his best was second place finishes in the year 2003 and 2005.
In the year 2007, Raikkonen moved to Ferrari and won the championship that year finishing just one point ahead of Lewis Hamilton. He remained with Ferrari for the next two seasons before Fernando Alonso was chosen ahead of him. He has been out of Formula
One and if he does comeback, it would be great for the sport as it would be six world champions competing against each other in the 2011 season. Raikkonen had a contract with Ferrari until 2010 but with mutual consultation, he walked out of the team and joined
World Rally Championship.
Raikkonen was paid an estimated salary of $51 million per year to be the highest paid driver in Formula One in 2007 by Ferrari and he was also the second most highly paid sportsman after Tiger Woods. Raikkonen didn’t rule out his comeback to Formula One
after he was left out by Ferrari but he always claimed that he would only participate if he is given a better car which would help him compete against the best to win the championship.
Unfortunately, he was unable to find the suitable team in which he would be back and running for the title in the 2010 season. There was a speculation that after some strong performances from Robert Kubica, Raikkonen may consider a deal with Renault for
the 2011 championship. The Renault team had performed very well in the midseason and they had a strong car but the rookie driver Vitaly Petrov was unable to deliver most of the times for them.
Renault had confirmed that they were in talks with the former champion about a possible comeback for the next year in place of the Russian rookie but all the speculations came to an end when Raikkonen dismissed all the talks of making a possible return.
He said claimed that Renault team was trying to use his name to promote itself as he had never been in talks with the Renault team. He also dismissed of returning to the sport ever in the Renault team.
With all his talent and his ability to compete with the very best, the question that arises is that will he ever be back to Formula One. The answer would be that it is very much possible. Raikkonen would not be the oldest one to compete in Formula One as
he is 31 years old compared to others like the legend Schumacher, Mark Webber and Rubens Barrichello who are elder than Raikkonen.
Ferrari has had a long deal with Felipe Mass but the Brazilian has not been able to deliver as Ferrari would have wanted him to do. After the return from his injury which was caused to him last year, Massa has been unable to impress even though Ferrari had
a strong car this year and his team-mate Alonso almost clinched the driver’s championship.
There is another spot for Raikkonen which has been emptied by the rookie driver Nico Hulkenberg for Williams but that would again be a car that may not be capable of winning races which Raikkonen would definitely want to do if he races again for any team
in Formula One.
Although the chances of a Formula One return for Kimi Raikkonen are very dim but if that happens, it would be very good for the sport and he will definitely be a strong contender for the driver’s championship. It would be a delight for all his fans and the
spectators who want to see a healthy competition.
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