The Iceman

No better time to write this on a day when Kimi starts off the season with a win in first race of the 2013 Formula 1 championship at Australia.

Kimi Räikkönen entered F1 in 2001 despite having only 23 races in junior categories under his belt and was quickly recognised as a star for the future.

Kimi scored a point in his debut race with Sauber at the Australian Grand Prix in 2001, going on to complete the year having achieved four points scoring finishes and eight top eight placings.



Such was Kimi’s debut that McLaren moved to sign the young talent for the 2002 season as a replacement for two-time champion and compatriot Mika Häkkinen. He finished third in his debut race with the team and came close to winning the French Grand Prix before taking his maiden victory the following year at the Malaysian Grand Prix. Despite no further wins, a strong run meant he finished second in the title race, just two points adrift of Michael Schumacher.2004 was to prove frustrating, with Kimi taking McLaren’s only win that year at the Belgian Grand Prix. The following season was more encouraging, as the Finn finished second to Fernando Alonso in the title race with seven wins to his name. 2006 was to prove his final year at McLaren and the momentum did not continue from the year before, with Kimi finishing fifth in the standings.

Kimi’s debut in 2007 for the prancing horse was a fairytale with pole position, fastest lap and the honour of becoming the first driver since Nigel Mansell in 1989 to win on his Ferrari debut. He followed that with a further five wins, stealing the title from under the noses of the battling McLaren duo of Alonso and Lewis Hamilton at the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix.

The following two seasons were more low-key, finishing third in the standings in 2008, and sixth the following season.Near the end of the 2009 season, Ferrari announced that Räikkönen would be leaving the team, despite having a contract to race for them in 2010. He would be replaced by Fernando Alonso.He was expected to return to McLaren alongside Lewis Hamilton but negotiations with the team failed. Räikkönen was linked to Mercedes GP but the team eventually signed Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg.

The FIA World Rally Championship was the destination for Kimi with the Citroën Junior Team in 2010, with a best finish of fifth in the Rally of Turkey. The following year he drove for ICE 1 Racing, with two sixth places in Jordan and Germany. He combined his rallying with two NASCAR outings.

Year 2012 marked the return of the Iceman with Lotus F1 Team.Despite spending two years away from motorsports’ elite category, the Finn instantly demonstrated the skill and technique by taking seven podiums and a victory in his comeback year to clinch P3 in the Drivers’ Championship.The victory at Abudhabi included the famous radio conversation with his race engineer who informd Kimi of the gap to the pursuing Ferrari of Fernando Alonso. The Finn's reply was blunt and pointed: "Just leave me alone. I know what I'm doing." Late in the race the same voice came through his earpiece, telling him to remember to warm up his new set of tyres and Kimi cameback with a classic reply with "Yes, yes, yes, yes,I'm doing all the tyres. You don't have to remind me every second."

Back in 2009 when the Malaysian Grand Prix was red flagged after heavy downpour of rain, Kimi famously left his car and had an icecream while other drivers sat huddled on the grid.With similar conditions looming in Malaysia, Lotus team delivered a present from Raikkonen to each member of the travelling press corps with icecream just before the 2012 race.

In August 2008, Räikkönen would appear on a set of Finnish postage stamps. The stamps, which were released to commemorate the Finnish postal service's 370th anniversary, feature images of him racing and on the podium, with the words "F1 World Champion '07 Kimi Räikkönen".

The Flying Finn

Michael Schumacher says his toughest rival in his first career was Mika Hakkinen, which is quite a compliment from a man who also raced against Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost and lost his final world championship battle to Fernando Alonso.

Mika make's his F1 debut in Phoenix for Lotus in 1991, but suffered engine failure on lap 60. He scored his first grand prix points at Imola, where he finished fifth starting 25th on the grid.
In 1993 , Hakkinen made his McLaren race debut at Estoril and in his first outing for the team outqualified Ayrton Senna.

At the 1995 Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide, Hakkinen suffered a tyre failure at the early part of the first qualifying session, which resulted in him crashing heavily into the wall. He was critically injured in the crash.
He made a full recovery and finished fifth in the Drivers' Championship in 1996.

Two season's later in 1998, Hakkinen finished ahead of Michael Schumacher to clinch his first world title.

In 1999, he retained his title by finishing ahead of Eddie Irvine,who was Ferrari's main threat after Schumacher's broken leg sustained at Silverstone.

At the end of the 2001 season, Hakkinen decided to take a break from racing and was replaced by by his young compatriot Kimi Raikkonen. In 2002 , he announced his full retirement.

For me two stand up moments from Mika's carriers other than the double world titles were brilliant overtake manoeuvre over Michael Schumacher at Spa in 2000 and the the final lap hydraulic failure in 2001 Spanish Grand Prix.

Finland Post issued stamps in memory of Mika Hakkinen's 1998 World Championship win.

Yas Marina Circuit

The inaugural Formula One's first ever day-night race took place on November 1, 2009 at Yas Marina Circuit.The twenty-one corners twist circuit through the man-made island off the Abu Dhabi coast was designed by Hermann Tilke.Floodlights were switched on from the start of the event to ensure a seamless transition from daylight to darkness.


The race was won by Sebastian Vettel for Red Bull.

Emirates Post issued stamps in 2010 to mark the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit.

Driver who was born to race

“If it’s true that life is like a film, I was lucky enough to act in it, to be the screenwriter, the main protagonist and the director of my way of life” -Gilles Villeneuve

Fame isn't always matched by results. Sometimes, like in the case of Gilles Villeneuve, the man becomes the legend.Due to his uniqueness,making his fans dream and beyond simple performance. With his way of being, his courage and his generosity Villeneuve conquered a whole generation of motorsport fans.



His first F1 race was at Silverstone in 1977 partnering James Hunt and Jochen Mass. Shortly after the British race McLaren's team manager Teddy Mayer decided not to continue with Villeneuve for the following year.But in August of 1977 Maranello called. He was then embraced by Enzo Ferrari who's first taught "When they presented me with this 'piccolo canadese', this minuscule bundle of nerves, I immediately recognized in him the physique of Nuvolari and said to myself, let's give him a try.".After his signing for Ferrari he remarked- "If someone said to me that you can have three wishes, my first would have been to get into racing, my second to be in Formula 1, my third to drive for Ferrari...".Ferrari's obvious interest in Villeneuve prompted Niki Lauda to jump ship at Canada in October having already clinched his second championship with the Italian team.

His day came on 8 October 1978 in Montreal. Gilles gave it his all and conquered his first win with a Ferrari after a great race.

Following a puncture in 1979 Dutch Grand Prix, the Canadian wrestled the car back to the pits on two tyres, the right front was in the air and the left rear was shredding rubber and sparking.This is considered begin one of the wildest laps in history.

Gilles' signature race was not a first, but a second. At the 1979 French Grand Prix at Dijon, Renault and Jean-Pierre Jabouille posted the first win for a modern turbo car. Rene Arnoux, running well, looked to make it a Renault one-two. Villeneuve, however on the contrary in a sliding, wheel-banging, tire-boiling duel with Arnoux that no witness to it is likely to forget. Villeneuve's insane insistence that his slower Ferrari could beat Arnoux's faster Renault was rewarded, and he finished just ahead of the Frenchman. It is probably safe to say that this was the most exciting race for second place in the history of motor racing.

Villeneuve died in a 140 mph crash caused by a collision with Jochen Mass during qualifying for the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder. The accident came less than two weeks after an intense argument with his teammate, Didier Pironi, over Pironi's move to pass Villeneuve at the preceding San Marino Grand Prix. At the time of his death, Villeneuve was extremely popular with fans and has since become an iconic figure in the history of the sport.



Villeneuve raced in Formula 1 for six years,started in 67 races and won 6 races.In 1979 season, he finished second by four points in the championship to teammate Jody Scheckter.

Like certain other great drivers, including Clark and Senna, Villeneuve was a curious mixture of seemingly disparate personality types.His incomparable driving style was always at the limit and will remain in his fans' hearts forever.His son, Jacques Villeneuve, became Formula One world champion in 1997.

In June, 1997 Canada issued stamps in honor of its favorite racing son.