Kimi Räikkönen

2007-07-26T14:31:00.000-07:00

Kimi Matias Räikkönen (pronounced /ˈki.mi ˈmɑ.ti.ɑs ˈræik.kø.nen/), born October 17, 1979 in Espoo, is a Finnish Formula One racing car driver for Scuderia Ferrari. He finished runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 2003 and 2005. He has driven for Sauber-Petronas (2001) and Team McLaren-Mercedes (2002–2006) he currently drives for Ferrari with whom is contracted until the end of the 2009 season.

Early career (until 2000)

He had a long line of success in karting from the age of ten, including placing second in the 1999 European Formula Super A championship. He also competed that year in the Formula Ford Euro Cup, and by the age of twenty, he had won the British Formula Renault Winter series, winning the first four races of the year. In 2000, he won seven of ten events in the Formula Renault UK Championship. After racing in the Formula Renault series later in 2000, Räikkönen had won 13 of 23 events — a 56% win rate.

Formula 1

2007-05-26T12:54:00.000-07:00

Formula One, abbreviated to F1, and also known as Grand Prix racing, is the highest class of auto racing defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), motor sport's world governing body. The "formula" in the name is a set of rules which all participants and cars must meet. The F1 world championship season consists of a series of races, known as Grands Prix, held usually on purpose-built circuits, and in a few cases on closed city streets. The results of each race are combined to determine two annual World Championships, one for drivers and one for constructors.

It is a massive television event, with millions of people watching each race in 200 countries. The cars race at high speeds, often greater than 300 km/h (190 mph) and are capable of pulling up to 4 g in some corners. The formula introduces a number of restrictions and specifications that cars must meet. These are designed, amongst other things, to keep the ever-increasing cornering speeds in safe ranges. The performance of the cars is highly dependent on electronics, aerodynamics, suspension and tyres. The formula has seen many evolutions and changes through the history of the sport. There have been many different types of engines; normally aspirated, supercharged and turbocharged, ranging from straight-4 to H16, with displacements from 1.5 litres to 4.5 litres. The maximum power achieved in the history of the series was around 1,200 bhp (900 kW) in racing trim, during the 1980s turbo era.

Europe is Formula One's traditional centre and remains its leading market. However, Grands Prix are held all over the world and, with new races in Bahrain, China, Malaysia, Turkey and the United States since 1999, its scope continues to expand. Of the 17 races in 2007 9 are outside Europe. As the world's most expensive sport, its economic effect is significant, and its financial and political battles are widely observed. Its high profile and popularity makes it an obvious merchandising environment, which leads to very high investments from sponsors, translating into extremely high budgets for the constructor teams. However, in recent years several teams have gone bankrupt or been bought out by other companies.

The sport is regulated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (International Automobile Federation more commonly abbreviated as FIA), with its headquarters in Place de la Concorde, Paris. Its current president is Max Mosley. Formula One's commercial rights are vested in the Formula One Group, now owned by Alpha Prema. Although now a minority shareholder, the sport is still generally promoted and controlled by Bernie Ecclestone. Since CVC's purchase, the complicated (and according to some sources such as The Economist "murky") business structure has been simplified, leading to suggestions that the Formula One Group could soon be floated

neo template test

Kimi Räikkönen

Formula 1