Kimi has the right formula to become F1 legend

KIMI RAIKKONEN’S chase of the Formula One World Championship was as awe-inspiring as anything I’ve seen in nearly 40 years as a fan of motor racing.

My boyhood hero was the late, great Jim Clark, who was so tragically and inexplicably killed in a minor Formula 2 race at Hockenheim in April 1968. Clark was a driver's driver in that he'd race anything, anywhere, anytime. He won two World Championships, an Indianapolis 500 and 25 Grands Prix in the course of what would only be a six-year career at the pinnacle of his sport.

He was notable more for letting his driving do the talking than his flamboyance out of the cockpit. A Scottish farmer's son, he might have been considered dour by some, but in fact the man was almost crippled by shyness and detested the goldfish bowl syndrome his success generated.

Nearly four decades on and the young Finn Raikkonen demonstrated many of the same qualities.

Not a man given to eloquence, Kimi does his talking on the track. His monosyllabic press conferences are almost legendary at this stage, despite the fact he has been in Formula One for four years and should at least know how to throw the press the odd morsel of copy-making quotes.

But an inherent mistrust of the fourth estate, fuelled undoubtedly by a tabloid frenzy over a 'binge drinking' incident at a supposedly private party earlier this year, means the 'Iceman' (as the self-same tabloids have labelled him) keeps his counsel pretty much to himself.

However, it is his performances in his McLaren MP4-20 this season which have been amongst the most mesmeric seen in a long time.

Certainly Fernando Alonso won a deserved World Championship this year, largely achieved on the back of solid driving and Renault reliability, but throughout the season it was Raikkonen's devastating pace and terrible luck which caught my attention.

Quick from the moment he arrived in Formula One four years ago as an unknown rookie with the Sauber team, Raikkonen's star has risen steadily since. Poached after just one year by the mercurial Ron Dennis for his McLaren-Mercedes outfit, the Finn has not disappointed. Paired this year with Juan Pablo Montoya, many people felt Kimi would be taught a few harsh lessons. Instead, it was he who handed them out, with the Colombian being the main recipient.

Seven race wins, five pole positions and nine fastest laps tell one story. What they don't tell is the heartbreak of Mercedes unreliability effectively robbing him of what would have been a fantastic Championship.

Invariably he was the quickest thing on four wheels on any given race weekend and, even in these days of traction control and driver aids, he was exciting too. All too often he appeared to be the only man on the grid so obviously walking the tightrope without a net.

He hung his car out like no other driver this year and, within a sport still trying to recover from the monotony created by years of Schumacher/Ferrari dominance and bad rule-making, his was the star that shone brightest.

One incident illustrating the point remains vivid in my mind. The European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring in May looked set to be a McLaren benefit, with Kimi having decimated the field and made everyone bar Alonso look somewhat foolish.

But, with no tyre changes allowed in F.1 this year, as the race neared its conclusion, Kimi was in trouble. He'd flat-spotted one of his front tyres during a possibly ill-advised passing manoeuvre on Rubens Barrichello and it was now coming back to haunt him. With just a few laps left, the tyre was beginning to completely degenerate and the sensible thing to do would be to pit and change it, but to do so would cost the victory and so he decided to brazen it out.

As he crossed the line for the final lap, the front left suspension shattered and Raikkonen was pitched into a series of spins which ultimately saw a very crumpled McLaren pitch into the safety barriers at largely undiminished speed.

His heroism in this instance left some questioning his sanity, but left me more impressed than has been the case for a long time with any racing driver possibly since the late Gilles Villeneuve. This man's hunger for victory was unquestionable.

For him to finish off the year with victory from 17th place on the grid with a final lap do-or-die move on Giancarlo Fisichella at the Japanese Grand Prix, only underlined that here was a man who had taken on the mantle of greats like Nuvolari, Rosemeyer, Fangio, Clark, Villeneuve and Senna.

This boy is the business.