Räikkönen and Spa: a love story in four acts

There was a time when a pilot reigned supreme over the Belgian Ardennes. Kimi Räikkönen undoubtedly competed in the best races of his career on the Spa circuit during his prosperous years. But what makes this circuit so special in the eyes of the man nicknamed “Iceman”?

“I love racing on this circuit, it has all the ingredients that drivers are looking for, for me it is the largest racing circuit in the world, I have loved it since my first visit in 2000, in Formula Renault "; Räikkönen said in 2012, while racing for the Lotus team.

“For me there are only good memories at Spa, it’s great to go racing there. You don't get this kind of feeling anywhere else. It's great to race with a modern racing car on a suitable circuit, which has such a history » His words exude passion.

However, the current pilot Alfa Romeo doesn't change his racing approach when he races here. " No, it's not because it's my favorite track that the motivation changes, it remains the same, it makes no difference. Sometimes there are certain circuits where everything seems to work and then there are others where you have no luck at all. »

However, Kimi Räikkönen has always been more at ease on old-style circuits, where the tracks have character, where the fast curves follow one another and where the driver's talent can be expressed as it is. 'at Silverstone, Suzuka and Spa.

The Finn is also at his advantage on circuits where warming up the tires is not the most complicated because his driving style, which is more relaxed than it seems, sometimes puts him at a disadvantage in this aspect. But if, for ten years, the 2007 world champion has not won at Spa, we can nevertheless remember the races which forged his legend in the Ardennes.

In 2004: While he had been the revelation of the year 2003 by fighting for the title until the end against Michael Schumacher, Räikkönen is having a very complicated 2004 season at the wheel of the McLaren MP4-19 very poor performance. Qualified only 10th in Belgium, the weekend in Spa reflected his campaign. The Finn will, however, transcend his mount during the race.

He gained four places just at the exit of the first corner and immediately took 5th place from Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari) at the Raidillon exit. He then swallows up Schumacher (also Ferrari) on the descent towards Eau Rouge, on the fourth lap, then passes his teammate David Coulthard two laps later.

Iceman takes the lead of the race on the 11th lap following the stop of the Renault of Jarno Trulli and the spin of his neighbor in the garage, Fernando Alonso. Despite the pressure exerted by Schumacher (who pocketed his seventh and final title that day) at the end of the event, Räikkönen won the second victory of his career.

In 2005: Kimi Räikkönen is fighting for the title again, this time against Alonso (Renault), at the wheel of the very fast but still unreliable McLaren MP4-20. Kimi starts on the front row during the Belgian Grand Prix (which begins in the rain), just behind his teammate Juan Pablo Montoya.

After the fiery Colombian's last stop, Räikkönen, who remained on the track because he had loaded more fuel, continued the fast laps before his last pit-stop and took the lead twelve laps from the end on a drying track. The Finn finished his race at an impressive pace (two seconds faster than the competition) and won his sixth victory that season. Montoya, for his part, concluded his afternoon in the wall.

In 2007: After a one-year break to renovate the circuit, the F1 is back in Spa. Räikkönen, who took Michael Schumacher's place at Ferrari, took pole position thanks to a perfect lap. His race was uneventful, the Finn only gave up his first place during the pit stops. He won for the third time in a row on the most selective track in the championship but the best was yet to come for Kimi who won the title at the end of the season. This is, to date, the Scuderia's last drivers' title.

In 2009: Twelve months after coming within a hair's breadth of a new success (before an exit from the track linked to the irruption of rain), For the last event on this list, Kimi Räikkönen starts from sixth place during the 2009 edition of the Belgian Grand Prix at the wheel of the restive Ferrari F60.

Iceman avoids Barrichello's Brawn GP when the lights go out and despite everything gets a very good start (helped by his Srec, the kinetic energy recovery system which offered an additional 80 horsepower for six seconds at the time but which weighed down the car) and finds himself in second position at the end of the first sector crossed.

When the safety car faded on the fifth lap, Räikkönen immediately took the lead of the race to the detriment of Giancarlo Fisichella and his surprising Force India. Although constantly under pressure from the latter thereafter, Kimi did not flinch and scored his fourth and final success to date in Belgium with less than a second ahead of Fisichella. In 2015, Räikkönen will judge that this victory is his best among those obtained at Spa.

Since his return in the premier category of motorsport in 2012, the 2007 champion has only been on the podium once on his favorite circuit. Does this mean that Kimi Räikkönen can no longer find the instructions at Spa? The truth is that this famous bad luck that he mentioned in an interview seems to have stuck with him for a while.

Mechanical breakdowns (2013, 2015 during qualifying), collisions for which he was not responsible (2016, 2018, 2019) or even errors from his team (2018 during qualifying) prevented him from obtaining the results he expected. he aims then that his peak speed, although it may be today on alternating current, has so far proven intact in Belgium.

If this 2020 season turns out to be Kimi Räikkönen's last, the veteran's supporters are hoping for one last burst of brilliance from the most placid driver on the grid. Unfortunately, the probability is low given the poor performance of its current mount (0 points in 6 races), but what more beautiful setting than Spa-Francorchamps for a fireworks display?