2007 F1 Champion Kimi Raikkonen Announces Retirement from Formula 1

No one has started more Grands Prix than 2007 Formula 1 champion Kimi Räikkönen, and the enigmatic Finn has decided to stop adding to that record at the conclusion of 2021.

Raikkonen, the series' 2007 champion, made the announcement earlier today that he will be retiring from F1 at season's end.

Räikkönen has started 341 Formula 1 races since debuting in 2001, winning 21 of them, and has finished on the podium 103 times. His ferocious raw pace was best seen during his early years, with McLaren, famously winning the 2005 Japanese GP from 17th on the grid with a stunning last lap pass. But the title remained elusive, often due to mechanical failures, robbing Räikkönen of several victories.

He finally claimed the World Championship in 2007, upon switching from McLaren to Ferrari, but that proved the high point.

Räikkönen spent two years out of Formula 1 in 2010-11, even making starts in the NASCAR Xfinity and NASCAR Truck Series, and while he ultimately returned to the championship in 2012, he was never able to fight for the title, adding just three wins to his record, most recently with Ferrari in 2018 at Austin, Texas.

Räikkönen, 42 next month, has spent the last three years at the Alfa Romeo-branded Sauber outfit at which his career began in 2001, merely scrapping for points. He has scored only six in the last two seasons. He has for months been thought unlikely to stay on in Formula 1 for 2022, when widely overhauled regulations will be introduced.