Raikkonen Now Owns a Unique Record

Kimi Raikkonen proved that there is still a lot of fight in the old dog yet, with his win in USA. But now, according to a tweet posted on the F1 Twitter account, Raikkonen now has a unique record to his name.

The veteran Finn has won a race on all three engine specifications in Formula One. To put things into perspective, he won during the V10, V8 and the V6 turbo era.

Raikkonen won using the V10 engines when he was racing for McLaren Mercedes in 2005. Then, in 2012, when he returned from his sabbatical, he won for the Lotus F1 team. He even finished 3rd in the championship behind Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso. That win was during the V8 era of Formula One racing.

Finally, F1 had made the big jump to V6 turbo engines in 2014 and Raikkonen’s win bank ran dry. The 39-year old had to wait nearly five years since his win in Australia in 2013, to stand on the top step again.

But now, Raikkonen has finally ascended the top step of the podium and the monkey has been flung off his back. Up until the US Grand Prix, Raikkonen has only been able to make do with several podiums.

There were also times where he came close but lost out due to poor strategy or a faster Vettel. But now, in Austin, Texas, his time finally came and he rose to the occasion.

Of course, with that win, it also meant that Lewis Hamilton’s championship celebrations had to be delayed. It was also helped by the fact that Sebastian Vettel finished 4th ahead of Valtteri Bottas. Now, Hamilton needs to finish in the points in Mexico, a feat that will be achieved easily for the Briton