A huge happy birthday to Kimi Raikkonen, aka “The Iceman”, named after his ice-cool attitude both on and off track. Born #OnThisDay 17 October 1979, Kimi had one of the longest-ever careers in Formula 1 that peaked when he won the 2007 Drivers’ Championship with Ferrari but would become so unhappy with the sport that he changed to rallying in 2010 despite still being in contract with the Italian team. A hard-drinking, party animal, you suspect he would have thrived had he been involved a generation earlier. As he himself said: “If the F1 world could go back 20 years, it would be the same as rallying now.” Despite being relatively new to rallying, he managed impressive results, including a stage win and a tenth-place finish in the championship for two consecutive seasons. However, his passion for F1 was reignited when he returned to the sport in 2012 with Lotus F1. During his time with Lotus, Raikkonen gave the team their only victories, establishing himself, once again, as one of the most sought-after drivers. In a remarkable turn of events, Ferrari re-signed him in 2013 on a two-year contract, which was later extended to 2018. His second stint with Ferrari saw a run of consistent performances, with 26 podium finishes, two pole positions, and a memorable win at the 2018 United States Grand Prix—his first win after a 113 Grand Prix gap. At the time of his retirement in 2021, he was the most experienced driver in F1 history, with 349 Grand Prix starts. However, he lost that distinction to Fernando Alonso the following year. #f1 #formula1