Over the weekend, the new F1 season will kick off the curtain of the new season.
The 42-year-old veteran Raikkonen is about to start his 19th F1 season in his career.
Data map: In the 2018 F1 Grand Prix, Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen (first from right) won third place.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Hou Yu
In October last year, the Alfa Romeo team announced that Raikkonen would remain in the team, which means that fans will still have this familiar face on the field in 2021.
As the oldest driver among the active players, these three words Raikkonen are connected with the youthful years of countless fans.
Although he has only won one world championship in his long career so far, this has not affected the audience's love for him, and even looking at the history of F1, he is also destined to occupy his own place.
Data map: On April 15, 2019, the Shanghai Grand Prix of the Formula One World Championship (F1) was held at the Shanghai International Circuit. The picture shows the Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen of the Ferrari team in the race.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Hou Yu
In 2001, Raikkonen started his F1 career with the Sauber team at the time.
Because of his reluctant personality and his calm and calm performance on the court, he has a nickname called "Iceman".
The outstanding performance in his debut season showed his potential to become a top-notch driver, and the audience began to have high hopes for him.
At the end of the season, Raikkonen switched to the McLaren team, and what followed was the first peak of his career.
Changing the gate, he drove the new car of the new team, skimming fast on the straights, and lightly and freely in the corners.
In 2003, in Malaysia, Raikkonen won his first F1 race championship. According to the situation at the time, Raikkonen should not be too far away from the first annual championship... However, it was counterproductive.
Data map: On September 17, 2017, local time, Singapore, at the F1 Singapore Grand Prix, Ferrari Finland driver Kimi Raikkonen (right) had an accident.
Räikkönen fell into the blasting curse, and it is this curse that has run through his McLaren career.
According to statistics, he suffered a total of 12 blowouts during his five seasons at McLaren. The victories and points that should have been earned in his pocket were finally wiped out because of the white smoke from the engine.
Had it not been for these technical failures, Raikkonen would have won the annual championship in 2003 and 2005.
But there is no sports car in the world that tests the tools in the hands of athletes more.
It was not until he put on the Ferrari shirt that he won the only annual driver's championship so far.
In 2007, the "Iceman" joined Ferrari. This season, Raikkonen completed a shocking reversal in F1 history, defeating Hamilton, the strongest rookie in history by one point, and won the drivers championship.
From 2007 to 2009, when he played for Ferrari was the golden age of Raikkonen-during which he represented the Ferrari team in 52 races, won 9 championships, won the pole position 5 times, and won 233 points for the team.
After three seasons with Ferrari, Raikkonen was replaced by Alonso.
In the absence of a suitable team, Raikkonen resolutely rushed to the rally field and did not return to F1 until 2012.
However, the good show of Return of the King did not appear.
When it came to a comeback, F1 gradually entered Hamilton time, and the Mercedes-Benz team began to dominate the paddock.
Along the way, Raikkonen happened to be caught between the two great eras of Schumacher and Hamilton, but he still has countless fans.
Data map: The picture shows Finnish driver Raikkonen's Chinese "fans" taking a group photo after the race.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Hou Yu
As the Finnish "Iceman", Raikkonen has been a taciturn person since childhood.
He only started talking when he was three years old. His parents took him to the doctor, but the diagnosis showed that his intelligence test score exceeded the average level of his peers.
He just didn't want to talk.
After growing up, none of this has changed.
In the eyes of the outside world, Raikkonen is always treated unfairly, but he never responds too much to controversial topics.
Under the lens of the media, Raikkonen will also give the most honest answer with the fewest words.
Once, a reporter asked him why he liked his helmet the most. He replied: "Because it protects my head." Another time, the last game before Schumacher retired for the first time.
Raikkonen missed the address of the ball king Bailey to Schumacher. When asked by the host why he did not attend, Raikkonen said: "I went to the bathroom."
Räikkönen always lives in his own world, and he prefers to be maverick rather than being silent.
And his indifferent and true character has almost made him the most unfettered person in the racing field.
Screenshot of Raikkonen's social media.
In one race, when 40 minutes were left before the start, the team members were surprised to find that Raikkonen was still asleep. When they woke him up, Raikkonen replied, "Let me sleep for another 5 minutes. "A McLaren technician also found him sleeping on the concrete barrier of the track, and the sun was still very big that day.
After winning, Raikkonen didn't have many special celebrations, but he always left the first sip of champagne for himself after standing on the podium.
What's even more funny is that after the 2012 Australia race, the team rest area suddenly caught fire. After receiving the news of the fire, Raikkonen hurried into the "fire" to rescue the ice cream in the refrigerator.
Raikkonen's love for ice cream is beyond ordinary people's imagination.
Before rescuing the ice cream, he was still in the gap before the start of a race. Under the watchful eyes of all the drivers and spectators, he got out of the car to buy ice cream and drinks.
Because of his strange behavior, Raikkonen is often hated by others.
But neither his enemies nor fans can deny: Raikkonen maintains the purest love for racing.
As he said before: "I still have the original feeling for F1. I really like to continue a lot of races. It is always nice to be able to finish on the podium, but I want to stand in the middle of the podium. position."
It is undeniable that with the increase of age, Raikkonen will inevitably work harder to win the championship.
But for fans, whether Raikkonen can stay in the paddock is far more important than whether he wins the championship.
(Reporter Xing Rui)