Absolutely peerless under pressure and possessing a natural raw speed witnessed once in a lifetime, it's no surprise that Kimi Räikkönen was quickly plucked from the lower ranks of motor-racing and plonked into a Formula One car after just 23 car races. Since then he has more than justified that blind faith, taking numerous wins, pole positions and fastest laps, not to mention a successful challenge for the world championship in 2007 after two failed attempts.

Räikkönen's Formula One career began in 2001 with Sauber, and after fighting hard to get the mandatory Superlicense to race, took a commendable sixth place on his debut just 12 seconds behind his vastly more experienced team-mate Nick Heidfeld. Although reliability problems and a couple of spins meant Kimi retired from seven races, he finished inside the top ten on all other occasions. In Austria and Canada he scored superb fourth-place finishes, in only his sixth and eighth races, with fifth place in Britain his final points-scoring race of the year. Having scored nine points in the largely underperforming C20, two points less than Heidfeld, Kimi was scooped up by McLaren for 2002 to partner David Coulthard and replacing fellow Finn Mika Hakkinen.

But Kimi's first year with the former world champions was nothing short of disappointing. While the car was unable to take the fight to the all-conquering Ferraris most of the time, persistent reliability problems meant he would finish just seven of the year's 17 races, mainly due to engine failures. Nevertheless, he took a total of four podium finishes, scoring 24 points, and coming to within five laps of his maiden Grand Prix victory in France, before getting caught out on an oily track and dropping to second.

Räikkönen's speed and consistency really shone in 2003 when he fell just two points short of taking the drivers' championship, getting beaten by Ferrari's Michael Schumacher at the final race of the season. Of the 13 races he finished just three of those were off the podium, but won just once, after a dominant drive from seventh on the grid in Malaysia. Despite consistent second place finishes, seven in total, he fell just short of Schumacher at the final hurdle in Japan.

Car reliability let Räikkönen down again in 2004 as did the pace of the new McLaren, with him scoring just one point in a dismal first seven races. A upgrade to a B-spec chassis saw Kimi take numerous podium finishes, recording his second Grand Prix with with his first win at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit despite starting just tenth. He ended the season on 45 points, almost double that of team-mate Coulthard.

With Ferrari's fall from grace leaving the door open for a new world champion, Kimi Räikkönen joined Fernando Alonso in the race for top honours in 2005, putting in his best season of racing thus far. As was all too frequent with McLaren however, reliability would ultimately cost him his first title, as Alonso and his bullet-proof Renault secured the title with two races remaining. Despite Räikkönen's best efforts, taking seven wins over the course of the year, he fell 21 points short of the Spaniard by the end of the season.

Potential victories in San Marino and Germany were brought to a halt with car failures, while another certain victory in Europe was canceled after a flat spot-induced suspension failure on the final lap. In Monza, a ten-place grid penalty for an unscheduled engine change put paid to another potential win, while earlier in the season, an unfortunate puncture mid-way through the Malaysian Grand Prix cost him a potential podium finish. Over the course of the year the various failures cost him as many as 31 points, enough to have taken the title comfortably. Nevertheless there were many highlights to the year, including his seven victories, the best of which was at the Japanese Grand Prix where he came from 17th on the grid to take the lead on the final lap of the race.

McLaren returned to their uncompetitive ways again in 2006, with Räikkönen failing to win a race for the first time in four years. He nevertheless achieved six podium finishes on his way to fifth in the championship, but having secured a move to Ferrari for 2007 his mind was focusing elsewhere for the year.

No sooner had Kimi's Ferrari career begun however, and he was back to his winning ways, taking a dominant victory in his debut race for the Italian marque in the Australian Grand Prix. However an early-season slump saw Räikkönen fail to win the next six races, as team-mate Massa and rivals McLaren gained the upper hand. The Finn's unstoppable fightback then began at the French Grand Prix, where he came from third on the grid to win from Massa, before making it back-to-back victories a week later in Silverstone.

A minor blip on his comeback trail saw him retire with hydraulic failure in Europe, bouncing back with three consecutive podium finishes in Hungary, Turkey and Italy. Pole position at Spa-Francorchamps was converted into an easy win, before producing one of the drives of the year to come from second-last to third at the rain-soaked Japanese Grand Prix, putting him 17 points behind Hamilton in the championship with just two races remaining. With nothing to lose, Räikkönen did his job and won the final two races of the year in China and Brazil, before deservedly being crowned world champion following Hamilton's late-season crumble. Having trailed Hamilton by 26 points mid-season, the Finn had produced one of the greatest comebacks in history, underlining his superb talent, speed and consistency.

Despite the energy-sapping championship success of 2007, Räikkönen looked well on his way to defending his crown early in 2008, only for a dismal run of bad luck to pull him from contention as the season wore on. After winning in Malaysia and Spain, sheer bad luck cost him points in Monaco, Canada, Britain, Europe, Belgium and Japan, but was still as quick as ever by setting the fastest lap ten times in 18 races. Three third-place finishes to end the season secured him third place in the championship, as team-mate Massa missed out on the title by just a point.

A poor start to the season for Ferrari gave little in the way of success for Räikkönen as he waited until the fourth race of the year for his first points. Not even the team's powerful KERS unit could mask the car's deficiencies, but Räikkönen nevertheless reproduced his magic at the Monaco Grand Prix to take third, his team's first podium of the year. Second and third places in Hungary and Europe respectively was followed by his and Ferrari's one and only win in Belgium from second on the grid, despite the team having ceased development on the car. Another podium in Italy was Räikkönen's final highlight of the year, as points became more and more difficult to score with an underdeveloped car.

Decade highs:
Last-lap win in Japan 2005 from 17th on the grid
Championship win in 2007, taking seven consecutive podium finishes and six wins

Decade lows:
Potential maiden win in France 2002 evaporated thanks to oily track
Missing out on 2003 title by two points
Reliability problems costing him 2005 title
Luckless 2008 season ruling him out of the championship hunt

2010s?
Likely not to find a seat on the grid in 2010 despite his limitless talent, Räikkönen is expected to go rallying next year before returning to F1 in 2011. In the right car, another world championship is not out of the question, but long-term is expected to turn his hand full-time to rallying.