F1FUNZ’s Weblog

The 2007 Formula One season was the 58th FIA Formula One World Championship season. It began on 18 March and ended on 21 October after seventeen Grands Prix. The Drivers’ Championship was won by Ferrari driver Kimi Räikkönen by one point at the final race of the season, making Räikkönen the third Finnish driver to take the title.

An appeal by McLaren regarding the
legality of some cars in the final race could have altered the championship standings, but on 16 November, the appeal was
reportedly rejected by the International Court of Appeal, confirming the championship results.Räikkönen entered the final
race in third position in the drivers’ standings, but emerged as champion after the chequered flag, a feat that had been
accomplished only by Giuseppe Farina in 1950.

Kimi-Matias Räikkönen (pronounced [ˈkimi ˈmɑtiɑs ˈræikkønen]; born October 17, 1979 in Espoo) is a Finnish Formula One race
car driver, currently driving for Scuderia Ferrari. He is the 2007 Formula One World Drivers’ Champion.
Räikkönen entered Formula One as a regular driver for Sauber-Petronas in 2001. Having previously only raced in very junior
open-wheel categories, he was given his Super Licence from the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) after a
performance delivery promise from his team boss, Peter Sauber.[1] He joined McLaren Mercedes in 2002, and became a title
contender by finishing runner-up in the 2003 and 2005 championships to Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso, respectively.

Räikkönen entered Formula One as a regular driver for Sauber-Petronas in 2001. Having previously only raced in very junior
open-wheel categories, he was given his Super Licence from the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) after a

performance delivery promise from his team boss, Peter Sauber. He joined McLaren Mercedes in 2002, and becamea title

contender by finishing runner-up in the 2003 and 2005 championships to Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso, respectively.

Switching to Ferrari in 2007, Räikkönen became the highest paid driver in motor sport with an estimated wage of $51 million
per year,in part due to the fact that the previous highest paid driver Michael Schumacher had retired. In turn his move to
Ferrari saw him secure his first Formula One World Drivers’ Championship, beating McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso by one point.
Räikkönen is known to be very calm, cool, and calculating in his race strategy—prompting the nickname “Iceman”, which is
subtly written on the side of his current helmet design. His other nicknames include Kimppa, Räikkä and Kimster (used by his
mechanics).
In 2008, Räikkönen is one among the two Formula One drivers who made it into the Forbes magazine’s The Celebrity 100 list,
the other being Fernando Alonso. He is 36th on Forbes magazine’s The Celebrity 100 list of 2008, and 41st on the previous

year. On the same list, as of 2008, he is listed as the 26th highest paid celebrity overall and the 5th highest paid sportsman behind Tiger Woods, David Beckham,Michael Jordan and Phil Mickelson.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimi_Räikkönen