2019 Overview – Kimi Räikkönen: A Return to Roots for an End of Career in the Shadows
The end of the year is approaching, and it's time to analyze the drivers' performances in 2019. Motors Inside offers you a look back at Kimi Räikkönen's season. The Finn returned to the team that gave him his chance in 2001. The start of the season was promising, but, much like the performance of his car, the rest of the season turned out to be more complicated than expected despite a fine performance in Brazil.
Despite a pole position and a victory in 2018, Kimi Räikkönen was not renewed at Ferrari for the 2019 campaign. He had the support of Sebastian Vettel and remains to this day the last world champion for the reds. Nevertheless, the Italian team was too afraid of losing its future star, Charles Leclerc. The latter had a brilliant 2018 season, marked by flashes of brilliance and maturity. The two therefore swapped their seats during the winter break, with Kimi Räikkönen returning to the team that gave him his chance in 2001 to become an F1 driver.
After encouraging winter testing, the Finn will repeat that he feels comfortable within this team. This transfer allowed him to be closer to his place of residence. Thus, with the modest Swiss team being less publicized than Ferrari, the constraints are fewer, allowing him to be with his family more often. Therefore, we see a motivated Kimi Räikkönen for a promising start to the season. Iceman is consistent and regularly scores points. In twelve races, he scores 31 points and ranks eighth behind Carlos Sainz.
Despite everything, Alfa Romeo is not making progress. The team is even disqualified from the German Grand Prix for a non-compliant start system. After the summer break, the Finnish driver loses speed in qualifying to the point of being regularly challenged by his teammate. The only significant result of this end of the season is an unexpected fourth place at the Brazilian Grand Prix. Always solid in the race, he outperforms his Italian teammate and will score 43 of the team’s 57 points.
Kimi Räikkönen has the passion for driving ingrained in him. That’s why he still roams the Formula 1 paddocks at over 40 years old. This season has mirrored the past five seasons with Ferrari. He is combative, experienced, passionate, and incredibly consistent in races. Since his return to F1 in 2012, after a stint in rallying, he has lost some of his speed but still gives his all. With an Alfa Romeo that failed to progress during 2019, he finishes in a modest 12th place that does not reflect the talent of this driver at the end of his career. But it doesn’t matter; he continues to pursue his passion with his unique demeanor. Let’s hope 2020 brings him a more competitive car.
