page_title: Kimi Räikkönen
section_title: 2007
hierarchical_section_title: Kimi Räikkönen / Career / Formula One (2001–2009) / Ferrari (2007–2009) / 2007
caption_attribution_description: Formula One 2007 Rd.17 Brazilian GP: Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari) won the race and the championship
context_page_description: Kimi-Matias Räikkönen, nicknamed "The Iceman", is a Finnish racing driver currently driving in Formula One for Alfa Romeo Racing, racing under the Finnish flag. He won the 2007 Formula One World Championship in his first season with Scuderia Ferrari. After nine seasons racing in Formula One he left the sport to compete in the World Rally Championship in 2010 and 2011, returning to Formula One from 2012 onward. In addition to this title, Räikkönen also finished second overall in 2003 and 2005, and third in 2008, 2012 and 2018. Räikkönen has won 21 Grands Prix, making him the most successful Finnish driver in terms of Formula One race wins. He is the only driver to take a race win in the V10, V8 and the hybrid V6 engine eras. He is known for his reserved personality and reluctance to participate in PR events.
  Räikkönen entered Formula One as a regular driver for Sauber-Petronas in 2001, having competed in only 23 car races previously. He joined McLaren-Mercedes in 2002, and became a title contender by finishing runner-up in the championship to Michael Schumacher in 2003, and Fernando Alonso in 2005.
context_section_description: Räikkönen started the season in Australia by taking pole position, setting the fastest lap, and becoming the first driver since Nigel Mansell in 1989 to win his first Grand Prix with Ferrari.
  At the Malaysian Grand Prix, Räikkönen was passed by Lewis Hamilton at the start and remained behind him for the rest of the race, finishing third. In Bahrain, Räikkönen started from third but was passed by McLaren driver Fernando Alonso. He eventually regained third position from Alonso and finished the race third. At the Spanish Grand Prix, Räikkönen retired after only 10 laps with an electrical problem. This took him down to fourth position in the Championship, behind team-mate Felipe Massa. At the Monaco Grand Prix, Räikkönen struck a barrier in qualifying and broke his right front suspension. He started 16th and finished eighth.
  In Canada, Räikkönen qualified fourth and finished fifth, Räikkönen's team-mate Massa was disqualified. At the United States Grand Prix, Räikkönen qualified fourth, finished fourth and recorded fastest lap of the race. With ten races in the season left, Räikkönen was 26 points behind leader Lewis Hamilton in the Drivers' Championship.
  In France, Räikkönen qualified third, but overtook Hamilton at the first corner of the race. He subsequently ran second, behind teammate Massa, for much of the Grand Prix, but overtook the Brazilian during the pit stops and took his second victory of the season. This was the 11th victory of his Formula One career and Ferrari's first 1–2 win of the 2007 season. At the British Grand Prix, Räikkönen qualified in second place, just missing the pole by running wide in the last corner. In the race, he again took the lead through pit stops, first overtaking Lewis Hamilton midway through the race and then putting in fast laps as Fernando Alonso pitted for the second time in the closing stages to pass him. Räikkönen led to the end of the race.
  At the European Grand Prix, Räikkönen captured his second pole position of the season but retired from the race, run in heavy rain, with a problem with the hydraulics of the car. In Hungary, Räikkönen qualified his car in fourth place, but started from third after Fernando Alonso was penalised. In the race he overtook Nick Heidfeld at the start and pressured Hamilton until the end, but had to settle for second, being 0.7s behind Hamilton. He set the fastest lap time on the last lap of the race, commenting after the race: "I was so bored behind Hamilton, I wanted to see how quick I could have been." In Turkey, Räikkönen missed pole position after making a mistake in the final sector of his fast lap, which left him third on the grid. On race day, he overtook Hamilton in the first corner and took second place, which he kept to the end of the race.
  At Monza's third practice session, Räikkönen crashed into the tyre wall before entering the Ascari chicane. He qualified in fifth place, and raced in the Ferrari reserve car while suffering from a neck problem. The Ferrari team employed an unusual one-stop strategy, which left him third after Hamilton passed him late in the race on fresh tyres. At Spa-Francorchamps, Räikkönen's favourite circuit, he secured pole position again and took his fourth victory of the season. Massa finished second, Alonso third and Hamilton fourth. This was also Räikkönen's third consecutive Spa win, which placed him among six other drivers with three or more Spa wins.
  At the Fuji Speedway in Japan, the only new track on the 2007 calendar, Räikkönen qualified in third position, while Hamilton took pole and Alonso second. In an extremely wet race, which saw the first 19 laps run behind the safety car, both Räikkönen and teammate Massa were badly affected by having to change to extreme wet tyres during the early stages, because the FIA's tyre-rule notification arrived late at Ferrari. Towards the end of the race, Räikkönen moved through the field to third place, but could not pass his fellow countryman Heikki Kovalainen for second.
  At the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai, Räikkönen dominated the whole weekend with fastest laps in
caption: Räikkönen celebrating victory and the world title at the 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix
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