[Aika Car Shopping Guide Original]
It can be said that it was in 2004 that the Shanghai International Circuit became the Chinese station of F1 events, setting off a boom in Chinese F1 events. At that time, in addition to Michael Schumacher, our F1 drivers were Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen, Felipe Massa and others. Today, Schumacher is still lying in a hospital bed, Massa has already returned home for the Stock Car Championship, and the 40-year-old Alonso continues to complete his racing dreams at Alpine Racing. Kimi Raikkonen, the only post-70s driver in F1 today, also announced in September that he would officially retire after this season's F1 races.
Raikkonen, who has the nickname "Iceman", is undoubtedly an F1 driver with both strength and popularity, although his entire career is not as good as Schumacher and Hamilton, but throughout his 20 years of racing career, he has won a total of 21 races in F1 and 1 driver of the year, which is great enough. Today, we will look back at Raikkonen's F1 career and his car, and return to the era of his "disputes" with Schumacher and Alonso.
Born in 1979, Raikkonen, like many F1 drivers, began his exposure to racing as a child. In 1988, at the age of 10, he began racing in various karting events. In 1998, when he was less than 20 years old, Raikkonen won several championships in various events such as the European Karting Series and the World Championship, and in 1998 he began to participate in the Formula Renault Championship (a relatively junior Formula racing competition).
By 2000, at the age of 21, Raikkonen had shown dominance in Formula Renault, winning seven of the season's 10 races and winning the Drivers' Championship of the Formula Renault Winter Series. In a total of 23 Formula Renault matches in which he competed, he won a total of 13 championships. This performance was appreciated by Pete Sauber, the owner of the F1 Sauber team at the time, and gave him a chance to test the car. After Raikkonen took part in two racetrack tests, Sauber signed him to the official F1 driver's seat in 2001.
After signing with Sauber, many people were very disapproving of Raikkonen. Even before the start of the season, Raikkonen got his F1 Super Driver's License. You know, Raikkonen has only participated in 23 Formula Renault races to become an official driver of F1, which is simply incredible, which is like being admitted to the university without finishing elementary school. Throughout the history of racing, there are very few drivers who have jumped directly to F1 without participating in F3 and F3000 events.
The first regular Australian Grand Prix, Raikkonen successfully finished as the 6th and dispelled the doubts of the outside world. Throughout the 2001 season, Raikkonen scored nine points, plus 12 points contributed by teammate Heifeld, and they helped Sauber team achieve their all-time best – fourth in the team of the year. Raikkonen's success relies not only on talent and hard work, but also on seizing opportunities.
Raikkonen's talent was palpable. At the end of the 2001 season, Raikkonen was invited by Ron Dennis and joined McLaren at the recommendation of fellow mika Hakkinen.
At McLaren, Raikkonen became the top star of F1. However, Raikkonen's F1 journey was not smooth sailing, and at the time, McLaren was known for "bursting cylinders". In the 2002 season, Raikkonen played in only 6 of the 17 races he played. In the last 4 races, the Belgian Grand Prix to the American Grand Prix 3 races, the engine of Raikkonen racing car had a "triple explosion". Even so, Raikkonen finished on the podium four times at the end of the race, finishing 6th year-end.
In the 2003 season, Raikkonen gradually grew into a top driver. At the Malaysian Grand Prix that season, he drove the car to finish on the podium with a 7th starting point and won the first race of his career. At the European Grand Prix, Raikkonen won the first pole starting point of his career. Throughout the 2003 season, Raikkonen made 10 podium stops and finished second in the Schumachers' trainers' standings with a final score of 91 points.
In the 2004 season that followed, Raikkonen performed modestly, scoring only one point in the opening seven races. Raikkonen has finished on the podium four times throughout the season and won 45 points, winning just one race and one pole start, ranking 7th in the drivers' overall standings. After a dismal 2004 season, Raikkonen exploded in the 2005 season to finish runner-up in driver's year and win the title of driver of the season.
In McLaren's final season, Raikkonen won pole starting three times, took the podium six times and finished 5th in driver's points of the year with 65 points. At the end of the season, Raikkonen officially terminated his contract with McLaren. During McLaren's 5 seasons, Raikkonen showed great strength, having won two runners-up as Driver of the Year. You know, the stability and absolute speed of mclaren racing at that time were not a small gap with Ferrari, and Raikkonen made McLaren the most troublesome opponent of the red Prancing Horse and the king of the car Schumacher with excellent technology.
Speaking of the nickname "Iceman", it was given to Raikkonen by McLaren's team technician. The nickname was also unusually suitable for him, and Raikkonen came from the cold country of Finland and was reticent, rarely giving interviews in public. Because of this, confidence, handsome appearance and excellent technology have made Raikkonen loved by many fans.
During the McLaren era, Raikkonen owned a Mercedes-Benz CLK DTM AMG. It is actually a civilian version of the German DTM Touring Car Race, with partial modifications based on the CLK AMG, such as the wide-body part and the rear wing. Compared with the ordinary CLK AMG, the CLK DTM AMG has a wider front and rear wheelbase of 74mm and 11mm respectively. It uses Mercedes-Benz's classic 5.5L V8 naturally aspirated engine and is tuned by AMG, which can reach a maximum power of 428kW (582 hp) and a peak torque of 800 Nm, which is a horror data that clK DTM AMG can break the hundred in 3.9 seconds and reach a top speed of 320 km/h. Around 100 CLK DTM AMG units were sold in Europe for a price of up to 236,000 euros.
Don't look at the CLK DTM AMG is quite expensive, but more than 100 units were quickly sold out. Subsequently, AMG launched the convertible version of CLK DTM AMG, that is, CLK DTM AMG Cabriolet (to say that it will do business, Mercedes-Benz said second, no car company dares to call first, and it does not pit the poor money). It has basically the same mechanical structure as the regular version of the CLK DTM AMG, and is also limited to 100 units. Interestingly, both Hakinen and Raikkonen's teammate Juan Pablo Montoya in 2005 pocketed the car.
Interestingly, we know that since 1996, Mercedes-AMG has been the only supplier of safety vehicles for F1. In 2003, Mercedes-Benz's safety car for F1 was based on the CLK55 AMG.
If Raikkonen was able to get a car close to Ferrari's performance during the McLaren era, I am afraid that the F1 car world at that time would not be the monopoly of Ferrari and Schumacher. Because of this, after the retirement of the car king, Ferrari chose Raikkonen as his successor, and it was also the strength of the "Iceman". But the post-Schumacher era opened up a pattern of division of the masses. Raikkonen's biggest rival with his teammate Massa is his old club McLaren. McLaren's car prowess has been strengthened, and they have brought in two drivers we know all too well: defending champion Alonso and Lewis Hamilton.
In the 2007 season, Ferrari cars were still relatively competitive, and it was not until the last Brazilian Grand Prix that the drivers' championship was decided. Before the race, Hamilton and Alonso were in the top two of the raceheads' standings, while Raikkonen was 3rd. At the Brazilian Grand Prix, Raikkonen's teammate Massa won pole positions, with Hamilton, Raikkonen and Alonso coming after.
On the start of the race, Massa started subtly blocking Hamilton's car, and Raikkonen managed to overtake Hamilton to move up to second place. At Turn 2, Hamilton, who was unsteady, was overtaken by teammate Alonso. We won't go into the details, but the team pitted Raikkonen into the 52nd lap and took the lead on the exit and was the first to cross the line. The impatient Hamilton made repeated mistakes and finished 7th, and teammate Alonso ranked 3rd. In this way, Raikkonen surpassed Hamilton (109 points) and Alonso (109 points) to win the Drivers of the Year championship with a score of 110 points. Winning 3 of the last 4 races against Raikkonen and completing a counter-attack against two opponents in the last 4 races is also a classic scene in the history of F1.
In the following 2008, Ferrari experienced many rain battles, gradually turning from leading the way at the beginning of the season to passive. Raikkonen also performed poorly in the middle of the season, repeatedly hitting the wall. In the second half of the 2008 season, Ferrari's car had no advantage, while Hamilton and McLaren showed amazing stability and won the Driver of the Year Championship. Facing the onslaught of McLaren and Hamilton, Massa also failed to win the drivers' championship of the year, while Raikkonen was in third place, winning only two races at the beginning of the season. In the last season before the aerodynamic restructuring, the Ferrari team was not very good, and this was also their turning point, so the "Mars rover" fell to the earth and opened the era of "nest french ethane".
In the 2009 season, the Ferrari F60 was in such bad condition that they didn't get a point for the team until the Bahrain Grand Prix. Throughout the season, Raikkonen won only one race at the Spa circuit in Belgium, finishing 6th in the drivers' list with 48 points. At the end of the season, Raikkonen's contract expired and he was eager to return to McLaren, but in the end the two sides did not agree. Raikkonen eventually decided to leave F1 for WRC, and the story came to an end.
Next, let's talk about the cars that Raikkonen owned during the Ferrari era. The first is the famous Ferrari ENZO, which in each period develops a flagship HyperCar that surpasses any model on sale, and is considered the epitome of Ferrari's highest technology and philosophy of this era. In 2002, Ferrari was unbeatable in F1, and Ferrari invited Schumacher to participate in the development and design. And this ENZO takes its name from Ferrari's founder Enzo Enzo Ferrari.
ENZO uses a number of F1 racing techniques, including an F1 racing gearbox, custom composite ceramic brake discs and bridgestone tyres developed specifically for it. The ENZO is powered by a 6.0L V12 naturally aspirated engine with a maximum power of 485 kW (660 hp), peak torque of 657 Nm and an acceleration time of 3.65 seconds from 0 to 100 km/h. The ENZO was limited to 399 units, and it sold for $600,000 at the time, and now you can't buy it even twice. Ferrari has since custom-built one for Pope John Paul, the 400th. Now, though, Raikkonen has sold the ENZO. In addition to the ENZO, the same Alpha Romeo Brera S and the Fiat 500 were both Raikkonen's cars during this period.
The Alfa Romeo Brera S is based on the regular brera version and is one of Raikkonen's cars. The Brera S was introduced in two versions, a 2.2 JTS version with a maximum power of 136 kW (185 hp) with a 2.2 L engine and a 3.2 V6 JTS version with a maximum power of 191 kW (260 hp) with a 3.2 L V6 engine, the former with a 0-100 km/h acceleration time of 8.6 seconds and the latter with a maximum power of 7.0 seconds.
Although the Brera S's book data and acceleration results are not outstanding, but as a professional production of driver's car, The limited and lightweight is the signature, and Nicholas Bernard, Alfa Romeo's UK marketing director, believes that the brera S appears to tell everyone that a good car will not rely on brute force. The Brera S was limited to 500 units and was quickly sold out, and Raikkonen loved the car, and a few years later he bought a Megane RS.
The next car, you may be very familiar with is the Fiat 500. Interestingly, in 2007 Raikkonen won the Driver of the Year Championship, and at the celebration banquet the trolley carried him and Massa to the venue, and Raikkonen himself had a trolley. Launched in 1957, the Fiat 500 became the epitome of Italy's post-war industry with Vespa, and the Fiat 500 was officially revived 50 years later.
Like many cute European cars, the Fiat 500 is not powerful enough but has absolutely no handling. Initially, the Fiat 500 was available in three versions, including 1.2L and 1.4L gasoline engine versions and 1.3L diesel engine versions. The 1.2L model has a maximum power of 51kW (69 hp), the 1.4L model has a maximum power of 73.5kW (100 hp), and the 1.3L diesel model has a maximum power of 55kW (75 hp).
Raikkonen | Onion Boy - Top Superstar
In 2010-2011, Raikkonen did not go well. He first joined the Citroën WRC team, but his best result was only 7th place and a segmented champion (not a division champion). In 2011, Raikkonen formed his own team ICE1 and competed in the World Rally Championship, but his best result was only 6th. In the same year, he also moved to NAZCA in the United States, that is, the Camping World Truck Series, but still had little success.
On 29 November 2011, Raikkonen finally announced its return to F1 and signed a 2-year contract with Lotus (Lotus F1) Racing. At this time in F1, Red Bull-Renault's car has truly become a Mars rover, and Sebastian Vettel has reached the point where it is difficult to think of a podium. Raikkonen's two years at Lotus F1, though, have been decent.
In the 2012 season, Raikkonen finished on the podium seven times, winning his 19th career race at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and finishing third as Driver of the Year with 207 points at the end of the season. In 2013, Raikkonen won the Australian Grand Prix in the opening match, and Raikkonen participated in 17 races that season, 8 podium finishes, and ranked 5th in the driver of the year with 183 points. In the two seasons of his return, Raikkonen has performed very well, and he has been called by his old club Ferrari.
At Lotus Racing, Raikkonen chose the evora S as his own car. This model is based on Evora, although it is a 6-cylinder model, but the empty mass is only 1.4 tons, which is also the pride of Lotus, but in exchange for the lack of electronic equipment in the car.
The Evora S uses a 3.5L V6 naturally aspirated engine code-named 2GR-FE, with a maximum power of 257 kW (350 hp) and a peak torque of 400 Nm, which is known by all earmarks from Toyota. The engine-matched transmission mechanism is a 6-speed manual transmission with an acceleration time of 0-100 km/h of 4.8 seconds and a maximum speed of 277 km/h. Of course, as such a playful car, Lotus obviously will not provide automatic transmission to you. Still, I'm not sure Raikkonen will choose it for commuting...
As mentioned above, Raikkonen was very fond of cars, and during this period he also collected a very classic car, the Renault Megane RS. Not only Raikkonen, but European car players love this car very much, and it is also the best work of Renault Sport, the renault sports division. Megane RS for Megana R26. R's successor model, in fact, Renault has not had an exclusive sports department, and this time the prototype of the sports department is gradually revealed.
The Megane RS is available in two models, a Sport model and a Cup model with a rear axle limited-slip differential. It is powered by a 2.0T turbocharged engine with a maximum power of 184 kW (250 hp) and peak torque of 340 Nm, while the drivetrain of this model is also a 6-speed manual transmission. However, Renault's sports division was recently dissolved, and Alpine, a pure electric sub-brand, will take over the flag with 3 electric models.
In September 2013, Ferrari announced that Raikkonen would officially return for the 2014 season. However, in the initial return to Ferrari, Raikkonen struggled with not adapting to the new braking and steering systems. In the 2014 season, Raikkonen's best result was 4th in the race, and he missed the podium throughout the season, accumulating 55 points in the whole year, ranking 12th among all drivers, which is also the worst result of his career.
In the 2015 season, Raikkonen's teammate was replaced by Alonso to Vettel. His performance improved and he returned to the top drivers, and throughout the 2015 season, although he did not win the races, he finally stood on the podium three times and finished 4th in the drivers of the year standings with 150 points. At the end of the season, The Ferrari team also completed a contract extension with Raikkonen, who said that "the dream continues" and hopes to retire at Ferrari. Throughout the 2016 season, Raikkonen did well, and although he still failed to win a single race, he still finished 6th as a driver of the year with 186 points and recovered in qualifying.
In the 2017 season, Raikkonen continued his momentum, winning pole position at the Monaco Grand Prix and becoming the oldest pole driver in the station at the age of 38. Raikkonen has been on the podium seven times throughout the season, but still missed the race winner, scoring a total of 205 points in 2017, ranking 4th in the trainers' standings.
Back in time to the 2018 season, Raikkonen showed great stability at the beginning of the season, and he finished third in 7 consecutive races at the beginning of the season, and then he gradually climbed. On 22 October 2018, the main round of the Formula 1 American Grand Prix ended at Austin Speedway, and Raikkonen won his 21st career race in the first race after his 39th birthday, and he was five years away from the previous title. Throughout the 2018 season, Raikkonen finished third in the 251th-place train hand list.
Back to its old club, Ferrari gave Raikkonen a GTC4 Lusso, named after the 330 GTC and 250 GT Berlinetta Lusso, which is also a very classic hunting car, which combines elegance and luxury. GTC4 Lusso succeeds the discontinued FF and is also Ferrari's pure bloodline. In addition to liking trolleys, Raikkonen is also very fond of "practical" grocery carts, and gtc4 Lusso is one of them.
The GTC4 Lusso is powered by a 6.3L V12 naturally aspirated engine with a maximum power of 507 kW (690 hp), a peak torque of 697 Nm, an acceleration time of 3.4 seconds from 0 to 100 km/h, and a top speed of 335 km/h. The engine-matched drivetrain is a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission, and the GTC4 Lusso is also available in four-wheel drive models.
Speaking of "practical" grocery shopping cars, Raikkonen also has an Audi RS 6, a must-have grocery shopping cart for European stars. The RS 6, known as the strongest crock pot on the surface, is familiar to everyone, and Raikkonen owns the previous generation model, which he is recently selling.
The 2016 Audi RS 6 Avant Performance is powered by a 4.0 TFSI V8 twin-turbo engine with a maximum power of 445 kW (605 hp) and a peak torque of 750 Nm. The RS 6Avant Performance has a 0-100 km/h acceleration time of 3.7 seconds and a 0-200 km/h acceleration time of 12.1 seconds, which is 0.2 seconds and 1.4 seconds faster than the normal version of RS 6, respectively. The drivetrain matched to the 4.0 TFSI engine is an 8-speed automatic transmission, which is equipped with the indispensable quadtro four-wheel drive system.
On 11 September 2018, Raikkonen announced that he would join Sauber at the end of the season, which is also the place where the dream began. Before the start of the 2019 season, Sauber team changed its name to Alfa Romeo F1 team. Alfa Romeo's car was not competitive, while Raikkonen still scored 43 points, ranking 12th in the trainers' standings. On 26 May 2019, he welcomed his 300th F1 race at the Monaco Grand Prix, becoming the fifth F1 driver to accomplish the feat, and at the Brazilian Grand Prix, Raikkonen made his 312th appearance to tie Alonso's record.
In the 2020 season, Raikkonen overtook 10 cars on the first lap of the Portuguese Grand Prix, winning the FIA Annual "Lens of the Year Award" and "Overtaking of the Year". On 11 October 2020, Raikkonen officially overtook Barrichello with 323 games at the Eiffel Grand Prix to become the driver with the most regular events in F1 history. The legend continues...
The Alfa Romeo team also prepared a car for Raikkonen, that is, the Stelvio four-leaf clover, which also had two of his needs: easy to drive and practical. The Stelvio Clover is after the fastest SUV on the track, and it once set a record of 7 minutes and 51.7 seconds at the Nürburgring.
The Stelvio four-leaf clover is powered by a 2.9T V6 twin-turbo engine with a maximum power of 375 kW (510 hp) and a peak torque of 600 Nm. Its 0-100km/h acceleration time is only 3.8 seconds, and the matching 8-speed automatic transmission can complete the shift in 150 milliseconds. The Stelvio clover also carries the AlfaTM active suspension and has an empty mass of only 1.8 tons.
Recently, Raikkonen took his wife to the premiere of "007: No Time to Die", which also showed everyone another car in his garage, the Rolls-Royce Phantom. The Phantom is arguably the world's most expensive 2-door 4-seater GT sports car, and its brother Shadow is actually its convertible version. The Phantom also launched the Black Badge version, specially created for young people, using a lot of piano paint and blackened materials. Even if it is a 2-door 4-seat GT sports car, the length and wheelbase have reached 5285mm and 3112mm respectively, and the no-load mass has reached 2.44 tons.
The Phantom is powered by a BMW N74B66A 6.6T V12 twin-turbo engine with a maximum power of 465 kW (632 hp) and a peak torque of 820 Nm, which was boosted to 870 Nm in the Black Badge version. The regular version and the Black Badge version have 0-100 km/h acceleration times of 4.6 seconds and 4.5 seconds, respectively. The drivetrain is also a familiar 8-speed automatic transmission. There is news that the Phantom will be discontinued, and it may be the best song of the Rolls-Royce 2-door 4-seat GT sports car.
Editor's comments: Raikkonen's personality is the reason why many people like him, he seems to be not afraid of the sky, not alarmed. It is precisely because of the initial sadness, the 2007 Jedi reversal and the writing of many records at the end of his career that people really recognize Raikkonen. In addition to the manufacturer-supplied vehicles in his garage, models such as the Megana RS and the Alfa Romeo Brera S are known for their cars, manuals, and excellent handling, and you can easily see Raikkonen's love of racing cars that is deeply rooted in the marrow. The Iceman's car is passionate, which is also a true portrayal of his heart.
Highlights review:
Hamilton takes stock of the supercar harvester in the paddock
F1 driver Raikkonen has retired and has competed in 344 F1 Grand Prix
Visit Alfa Romeo F1 Racing Team driver Raikkonen
Raikkonen | Returning is still a teenager