Kimi Raikkonen is leaving Ferrari at the end of 2018. In an extremely unpopular move the Scuderia have not taken up the option to keep the Finn for another season or two. Raikkonen is much-loved by the fans for his dead-pan responses, hilarious team-radio messages and generally laconic manner.

Perhaps Raikkonen’s pole position at Monza or his attempt to win the race did not sit well with Ferrari, which quite clearly favours Sebastian Vettel. The Iceman will be moving to Sauber F1 for two seasons starting next year. For those who don’t know, Raikkonen started his F1 career at Sauber in 2001.

Click here to view a high-speed Lamborghini crash.

Many teams

Kimi Raikkonen started at Sauber before moving to McLaren. There he claimed his first of 20 victories. In 2007 he replaced seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher at Ferrari. He won the F1 driver’s title in 2007, the last time the title has gone to the Maranello outfit. In his F1 career to date Raikkonen has stood on the podium 100 times.

Click here to see official F1 videos of Kimi’s funniest moments and his top five best drives for Ferrari.

F1 return

The Finn then left F1 at the end of 2009 to dabble in other forms of racing. He had a brief stint in Nascar and WRC before returning to F1 in 2012 with Lotus. He claimed an extremely popular win for the team in his return season. In a surprise move he was re-signed to Ferrari in 2014. At the Scuderia he partnered Fernando Alonso and more recently Vettel.

Frédéric Vasseur, CEO of Sauber Motorsport and Team Principal of the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team:

“Signing Kimi Räikkönen as our driver represents an important pillar of our project, and brings us closer to our target of making significant progress as a team in the near future. Kimi’s undoubted talent and immense experience in Formula One will contribute not only to the development of our car, but will also accelerate the growth and development of our team as a whole. Together, we will start the 2019 season with a strong foundation, driven by the determination to fight for results that count”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvvW_JQrQ48