F1 » F1 Driver of the Year vote: 2nd

30 December 2012
You voted Kimi Raikkonen into 2nd place in Crash.net's F1 Driver of the Year poll!
F1 Driver of the Year vote: 2nd

Top 10 F1 Drivers of the Year 2012:
2: Kimi Raikkonen

Birthplace: Espoo, FInland
Birthdate: October 17, 1979
Team: Lotus F1
Car: Lotus-Renault E20
2012 starts: 20
Wins: 1
Poles: 0
Podiums: 7
Fastest laps: 2
Championship points: 207
Championship position: 3rd
Crash.net F1 Driver of 2011 position: N/A


Kimi Raikkonen's return to F1 after two years pounding the forests in the World Rally Championship was the talking point of the pre-season, but 'The Iceman' still needed Lotus to bounce back from its poor second half showing in 2012 if he was to recapture former glories.

While the E20 was only randomly a match for McLaren and Red Bull, Raikkonen somehow kept himself in touch with the frontrunners until Abu Dhabi where, ironically, he finally claimed the team's only victory of the season but was still mathematically eliminated from the title race.

The year started solidly for Raikkonen, with points in both Australia and Malaysia and only extreme tyre wear in the closing stages denying another top ten in China. Indeed, the Finn had been running as high as second overall when the problems struck and he lost ten places in just two laps to eventually wind up an unrepresentative 14th overall.

He duly bounced back to shown what might have been, with back-to-back podiums in Bahrain and Spain, and featured in the leading group through most of the summer, returning to the podium with fellow champions Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher in Valencia. Germany, Hungary and Belgium all produced successive top three finishes, but predictions suggesting Raikkonen would become the season's eighth different winner kept having to be adjusted before he finally hit paydirt after Lewis Hamilton's McLaren expired in Abu Dhabi.

The Finn also had looked set to become the only driver to complete every lap of the 20 races until an Interlagos detour ended in a locked gate rather than the support race pit-lane he had been expecting, resulting in a lapped tenth place.

As deadpan as ever, Raikkonen also kept audiences amused with his radio conversations and press conference appearances, including the now infamous 'I know what I'm doing' uttered en route to victory at Yas Marina. He should be a contender for honours in 2013 if his team can keep pace with developments.


Top 10 F1 Driver of the Year 2012 results so far:
3. Lewis Hamilton
4. Sebastian Vettel
5. Jenson Button
6. Nico Hulkenberg
7. Mark Webber
8. Sergio Perez
9. Felipe Massa
10. Kamui Kobayashi

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Related Pictures

25.11.2012- Race, Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Lotus F1 Team E20 and Michael Schumacher (GER) Mercedes AMG F1 W03
24.11.2012- Qualifying, Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Lotus F1 Team E20
23.11.2012- Free Practice 2, Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Lotus F1 Team E20
25.11.2012- Lotus Team photograph, Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Lotus F1 Team E20
22.04.2012- Race, Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Lotus F1 Team E20 and Romain Grosjean (FRA) Lotus F1 Team E20
24.06.2012- Race, Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Lotus F1 Team E20
24.06.2012- Race, Fernando Alonso (ESP) Scuderia Ferrari F2012 race winner, 2nd position Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Lotus F1 Team E20 and 3rd position Michael Schumacher (GER) Mercedes AMG F1 W03 with Andrea Stella (ITA) Ferrari Race Engineer
Race: Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Lotus F1 Team E20
Podium: Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Lotus F1 Team E20 (race winner)
Georgie Thompson teams up with Rexona and Suremen
Georgie Thompson teams up with Rexona and Suremen

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superdowg316 - Unregistered

December 30, 2012 8:43 AM

Have to say, Kimi had an excellent season considering he's been out since 2009 and since then many rule changes have occured. Plus he helped improve Lotus after a dissapointing 2011 season and scored an impressive win. All I can say is next year I think Kimi will be more of a challanger for the title

Strider

December 30, 2012 8:44 AM

Kimi deserves to be applauded for his efforts in 2012. He had a fantastic season and was by far the most consistent driver which was no mean feat given that he was out of the F1 paddock for two years. Hopefully Lotus can deliver what they promise for 2013, would be great to see Kimi challenging for wins and perhaps even the championship.

I wonder who will top this list


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