6 of Kimi Räikkönen´s best races

After a Formula One career spanning nearly 20 years and over 350 races, Kimi Räikkönen has announced his intention to retire from the sport at the end of 2021.

A 21-time Grand Prix winner, Räikkönen won the F1 world championship in 2007, and competed for five teams on his way to becoming the most experienced F1 driver in history. As the Finn's career draws to a close, Xinhua takes a look back at some of his most memorable moments.

2001 Australian Grand Prix

Having surprisingly been signed by Sauber despite only one season's experience of car racing, many had questioned Räikkönen's place on the F1 grid. But the Finn showed no signs of being overawed, and was reportedly seen asleep just 30 minutes before the race began. Once the lights went out, the rookie showed incredible composure and maturity for one so inexperienced, and finished his debut race in a points-scoring sixth place.

2004 Belgian Grand Prix

Having challenged for the title with McLaren in 2003, big things were expected of Räikkönen in 2004. Alas, that year's McLaren MP4-19 proved to be uncompetitive, reducing the Finn to the lower reaches of the grid as Michael Schumacher swept all before him at Ferrari. However, a mid-season update improved things dramatically, and Raikkonen withstood immense pressure from Schumacher in Belgium to take his only win of a disappointing year.

2005 Japanese Grand Prix

2005's McLaren MP4-20 was fast but fragile, with Räikkönen taking seven wins but losing out to Fernando Alonso's greater consistency in the title race. At Suzuka that year, though, and with the title already decided, Raikkonen put in arguably the drive of his life, scything his way through the field from 17th on the grid to hunt down and overtake Giancarlo Fisichella for the lead on the very last lap of the race.

2007 Japanese Grand Prix

Räikkönen's performance in this race run in torrential rain is often overlooked, with much attention afterwards focused on Lewis Hamilton's victory. But after starting on the wrong tyres due to a communication breakdown, Raikkonen clawed his way through the field from 16th to finish third by the end, just enough to keep him in contention for a championship that he would eventually win after two victories in the season's final two races.

2013 Australian Grand Prix

After a two-year hiatus from F1, Räikkönen signed for Lotus in 2012. Now one of F1's elder statesman, the Finn had added a relentless consistency to his blistering speed, and this was key to his surprising win in 2013's curtain raiser at Melbourne. With his rivals stopping for fresh tyres twice, Raikkonen leapfrogged them by preserving his rubber and stopping only once, moving up from seventh on the grid to take a consummate victory.

2018 United States Grand Prix

Räikkönen's second stint at Ferrari between 2014 and 2018 was a largely disappointing one in which he was overshadowed first by Fernando Alonso and then Sebastian Vettel. But the Finn had one final hurrah at Austin in 2018, passing Lewis Hamilton at the start and then keeping the title-chasing Briton at arm's length all race long to score his 21st and final Grand Prix win, some five-and-a-half years after his 20th.