Räikkönen ended the year seventh, with 45 points, only one behind sixth placed Jarno Trulli, and four podiums.

Räikkönen ended the race in fifth.

The early laps were held in changeable conditions, and the race ended up as a duel between Kimi Räikkönen and Juan Pablo Montoya, who were to be McLaren team-mates for 2005.

Alonso ended with a comfortable 16. 8s lead over the second-placed Räikkönen.

Giancarlo Fisichella's quiet race ended with an impressive 6th, with Räikkönen taking two points for seventh and Toyota's Cristiano da Matta taking the final point for 8th.

Both Michael Schumacher and Montoya got fast starts, while Räikkönen took Trulli off the line, and ended the lap in second place, having passed his teammate as well.

At the same time McLaren did not take up their option on Montoya for 2007, while his teammate Kimi Räikkönen remained a free agent, although it was later revealed that Räikkönen had signed with Ferrari for 2007 before Alonso had signed his McLaren deal.

The next weekend at Monza, Räikkönen again retired on lap 13, this time owing to electrical problems.

After passing Kovalainen at the start, Barrichello managed not to lose too much time, as he had the advantage of just one stop against Hamilton, Räikkönen and Sutil's two stop strategy.

Both Giancarlo Fisichella and Kimi Räikkönen failed to set a time in the session, leaving them at the back of the grid.

After having a wheel-to-wheel dispute with Kimi Räikkönen, Michael Schumacher was forced onto the grass, consequently losing his right deflector, which despite not having great overall impact on the car's aerodynamics, barred him from closing on Räikkönen again and made him miss the podium for the first time since the 2001 Italian Grand Prix and the first time Ferrari missed out on a podium since the 1999 European Grand Prix.

Fisichella led the race at the time, having just overtaken Räikkönen ; however, it was the Finn who was declared the race winner under the count back rule, which stipulates that the race result in such circumstances is taken from the running order two laps prior to the race being stopped.

The Ferraris were fastest in the first session, although this time the closest non-Ferrari driver, which was Räikkönen, was under a second behind them.

Barrichello then set the fastest lap after being cleared of traffic, taking the lead after Räikkönen pitted for the second time.

Alonso and Webber were again the first to have a second fuel stop, on lap 30 and 31 respectively but this time Alonso had enough of a lead to re-enter the track ahead of Räikkönen while Webber dropped to ninth after his stop.

In the form of Minardi ’ s Fernando Alonso and Sauber ’ s Kimi Räikkönen, two future world champions were taking to the grid for the very first time at the season opener in Melbourne.

Though this seemingly put Räikkönen in a bad spot, as all of his close competitors had pitted, he fought back with a series of brilliant laps that would give him a 34. 7-second lead by the time he pitted on lap 42.

A few laps later, Räikkönen damaged his tyres with a lock up of his front-right whilst lapping Jacques Villeneuve who ignored blue flags, losing a small amount of time to Alonso as he ran wide.

After this Grand Prix, the championship become a two horse race between Alonso and Räikkönen, eliminating Schumacher from mathematical contention although it had been unlikely for some time that Schumacher would be contending for the title.

From the Monaco Grand Prix, the FW25 proved to be the class of the field, allowing Montoya to take victory at Circuit de Monaco from Kimi Räikkönen.

Montoya had a solid race at Monaco, inheriting second place 14. 5 seconds behind championship leader Fernando Alonso after Räikkönen and Mark Webber went out with engine problems on lap 50.

Räikkönen at the United States Grand Prix in 2002.

Räikkönen came close to winning his first Grand Prix in France, but went off track at the Adelaide hairpin with a handful of laps to go, because of oil from the blown engine of Allan McNish's Toyota on the circuit.

However, Räikkönen finished 2nd at Imola.

At the, Räikkönen made a mistake in qualifying and had to start from the back of the grid, and at the start, he collided with Antônio Pizzonia, who was stuck on his grid position owing to a launch control problem, causing Räikkönen to retire from the race.

Räikkönen at the 2003 French Grand Prix.

Räikkönen finished 4th in France behind Schumacher but finished one point ahead of him with a 3rd place finish at the.

Räikkönen failed to finish the after being involved in an accident at the first corner with Ralf Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello.

Räikkönen finished 2nd at the next race, the.

Räikkönen took pole at the, but Michael Schumacher won the race with Räikkönen finishing 2nd.

Räikkönen at the 2005 Canadian Grand Prix.

Räikkönen at the 2005 United States Grand Prix.

Räikkönen then achieved three consecutive poles in San Marino, Spain, and a win after a safety car strategy call by Neil Martin at Monaco.

A week later at the, Räikkönen suffered another Mercedes engine failure due to an oil leak ; his 2nd place qualifying place became 12th.

Significantly, at the opening of the, though saying he was very comfortable at McLaren, Räikkönen raised the possibility that he might leave McLaren when his contract expired in 2006 if reliability issues were not solved.

Räikkönen won the Hungarian Grand Prix from the most handicapped qualifying position, having had to do his qualifying run first on the notoriously dusty and dirty track because of his early retirement a week earlier at Hockenheim.

In the penultimate race of the year, at the Suzuka Circuit in Japan, Räikkönen took his 7th victory of the season after starting 17th on the grid ( as rain, and an engine failure for Räikkönen, had mixed up the qualifying grid ).

Räikkönen testing for McLaren at Circuit de Valencia | Valencia in early 2006.

At the, a bad choice of strategy and a mistake from Räikkönen in qualifying ( 8th ) saw the McLarens get caught in traffic in the early part of the race allowing Michael Schumacher and Alonso to get away at the front.

Kimi Räikkönen replaced Häkkinen at McLaren-Mercedes in 2002, and has also been referred to as the Flying Finn, although he is better known by his other nickname, The Iceman ( Finnish: Jäämies ).

It was the second race of the 2003 Formula One season, and it was won by Kimi Räikkönen driving the MP4-17 for McLaren-Mercedes.

Kimi Räikkönen of McLaren-Mercedes started from third, while world champion and championship leader Michael Schumacher started from fifth.

The McLaren-Mercedes of Kimi Räikkönen managed to climb to third on the opening lap from his grid position of seventh.

The winner of the inaugural Turkish Grand Prix was Kimi Räikkönen ( McLaren-Mercedes ), Fernando Alonso ( Renault F1 ) came in second, followed by Juan Pablo Montoya ( McLaren-Mercedes ).

Kimi Räikkönen qualified his McLaren-Mercedes fastest, but received a 10-place grid penalty for changing his engine, demoting him to 11th on the grid and giving pole to Juan Pablo Montoya.