Kimi Raikkonen cut his teeth in national and international kart racing from the age of ten, before taking up car racing in 1999. Here he competed in four races for Haywood Racing, finishing third in his first outing before retiring from the next three due to technical problems. He also competed in the Formula Ford Euro Cup where he finished fifth, but unfortunately, his final entrance into the Formula Ford Festival, saw him forced out of contention. Signing for Manor Motor Sport, he won four races out of four starts to secure the Formula Renault Winter series.

Staying with Manor, 2000 saw the young Finn competing in the British Renault Championship, taking the title with relative ease after securing seven wins out of the ten races contested, however he stood on the podium for every race and took seven pole positions and six fastest laps. During the same year, he also competed in the Formula Renault series where he took two wins, two poles and two fastest laps. Out of the 23 races contested, Kimi has a success rate of more that 50%, winning a grand total of 13, making team boss, Peter Sauber sit up and take notice.

He then made his Formula One debut for the Swiss based Formula One team in 2001, after only competing in 23 car races, none of which involved F3 or F3000. However the FIA granted him the necessary Super Licence because of the promising performances the young Finn has displayed in earlier testing. The first time Kimi got behind the wheel of Formula One car was September 2000, before further sessions in Jerez and Barcelona three months later.

His debut season produced some superb performances and he helped the team to their highest ever finish, fourth place overall in the constructors battle. Despite the negativity surrounding his entrance into the sport, his strong drives didn't go unnoticed and he was chosen by McLaren to take the place of double world champion, Mika Hakkinen, who opted for a sabbatical in 2002, and 2003 see him in the Mitsubishi Rally car.

The young Finn put in some superb performances throughout 2002, out qualifying his more experienced teammate David Coulthard on several occasions. He also came extremely close to winning his first ever race, but unfortunately the 22-year-old driver ran wide at the Adelaide hairpin due to oil on the circuit from Allan McNish's blown Toyota engine, handing victory to Michael Schumacher. Hopefully that maiden win, plus more, will be forthcoming in 2003.