2020 is statistically Kimi Raikkonen’s worst season in Formula 1, but the Finn still showed flashes of brilliance in the season in which he became the most experienced driver. Here are the facts and statistics from Raikkonen’s 2020 F1 season!
Kimi Raikkonen scored only four points in 2020 – the lowest points tally from any of his eighteen seasons. Finishing in sixteenth in the Drivers’ Championship, it was statistically the Finn’s worst season in F1. Nevertheless, there were still flashes of brilliance from the Alfa Romeo driver this year – most notably his stunning opening lap at the Portuguese Grand Prix where he gained nine positions. 2020 was also the year in which Raikkonen became the sport’s most experienced driver, having now completed more races, laps and kilometres than any other driver.
Raikkonen’s team-mate was able to match him more regularly in 2020. Both Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi recorded four points this year, and the Finn was out-qualified by Giovinazzi more regularly than not. The battles were often close though, with Raikkonen faster than his team-mate in 24 of the 51 qualifying sectors.
Raikkonen will continue for a nineteenth season in the sport in 2021. By the end of the 2021 season, Raikkonen will be 42. With his contract up at the end of the year, will next year be his swansong?
[one_half]
QUALIFYING STATISTICS
- Championship Position: 16th
- Total Points: 4
- % of teams’ points scored: 50%
- Points Scoring Races: 2
- Best finish: 9th (x2)
- Number of starts: 17
- Number of non-finishes: 1
- Number of finishes: 16
- Laps Led: 0
- Laps Complete: 1009
- % of Laps Complete: 97.30%
- Distance Covered: 5101.703km
- Laps Raced in the Top 10: 168
- Laps Raced in the Top 5: 35
- Laps Raced in the Top 3: 7
- Races gained positions in: 13
- Races lost positions in: 2
- Finished where started: 1
[/one_half][one_half_last]
QUALIFYING STATISTICS
- Q3 Appearances: 1
- Q2 Exits: 3
- Q1 Exits: 13
- Best Qualifying Position: 8th (Turkey)
- Worst Qualifying Position: 20th (x3)
- Average Qualifying Position: 16.65
- Average Grid Position: 16.24
- Average Gap to own potential qualifying pace: +0.108s
- Achieved own ultimate pace: 5
- Beat team-mate in how many qualifying sectors: 24
- Beaten by team-mate in how many qualifying sectors: 27
- Average gap to team-mate per sector in qualifying: +0.013s
[/one_half_last]
A STATISTIC FROM EVERY GRAND PRIX
Austria: Kimi Raikkonen retired from the Austrian Grand Prix for the third time in his career. It was the first time an Alfa Romeo car (formerly Sauber) has retired from the Austrian Grand Prix since 2003. Despite his retirement, Raikkonen became the first driver to complete 500 racing laps at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Styria: Before the 2020 season, Kimi Raikkonen had never recorded consecutive Q1 exits. The 2020 Styrian Grand Prix marked his third Q1 exit in a row. After finishing eleventh in the Grand Prix, this was the first time since 2009 that Raikkonen had scored no points at the first two races of the year.
Hungary: With last on the grid at the 2020 Hungarian Grand Prix, Kimi Raikkonen equalled his worst ever qualifying result. He had qualified in twentieth position three times previously – at the 2003 Spanish Grand Prix, the 2003 Canadian Grand Prix and the 2014 British Grand Prix. This was the first time the Finn has qualified last as a result of a pure lack of pace. Though he did not score in the race, Raikkonen’s fifteenth place finish saw him become the first driver to have reached the chequered flag at the Hungarian Grand Prix on fifteen occasions. In doing so, Raikkonen set a new record for most laps raced at the circuit. He has now raced 1,154 laps at the track, overtaking Michael Schumacher’s total of 1,125 laps raced.
Britain: Kimi Raikkonen was the only driver to be lapped at the 2020 British Grand Prix, but he did make some history on a challenging afternoon. This was Raikkonen’s 246th race finish, meaning that he has now reached the chequered flag at more races than any other driver in Formula 1 history. He also became the first driver to have finished a race at Silverstone on sixteen occasions, surpassing the tally of fifteen finishes recorded by Fernando Alonso and Rubens Barrichello. In addition, he became the fourth driver to have raced over 900 laps of the Silverstone circuit, with his total laps raced here now standing at 935. Only Barrichello has raced more laps of Silverstone than Raikkonen (1,049).
70th Anniversary: Completing 51 of the 52 laps in the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix, Kimi Raikkonen became the driver to have completed the most racing laps in Formula 1 history. After the race, his tally of laps complete stood at 16,845 – twenty more laps than Michael Schumacher completed during his career. Raikkonen also equalled Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello for most Silverstone race entries. This was his nineteenth appearance at the circuit.
Spain: One week after breaking the record for most laps raced in F1, Kimi Raikkonen became the first man to have raced 84,000km. In the 2020 Spanish Grand Prix, Raikkonen finished where he started – the first time he had done so since the 2018 Russian Grand Prix. On Saturday, Raikkonen gave Alfa Romeo their first Q2 appearance since the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix, ending a streak of six consecutive double Q1 eliminations.
Belgium: Kimi Raikkonen was eliminated in Q1 at the Belgian Grand Prix for the first time in his career, with sixteenth being his worst ever qualifying result at Spa Francorchamps. He finished in twelfth place, making 2020 the third consecutive season in which he failed to score at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Italy: On the weekend where Kimi Raikkonen equalled Michael Schumacher as the driver to have entered the most races with a Ferrari-badged engine, the Finn overtook Rubens Barrichello as the driver to have completed the most racing laps at Monza in Formula 1 history. Barrichello toured the circuit 886 times during his career, while Raikkonen has now completed 889 laps. Raikkonen also equalled Barrichello as the driver to have finished a race on the most occasions at Monza.
Tuscany: Despite picking up a five second penalty at the Tuscan Grand Prix, Kimi Raikkonen scored his first points of the 2020 season. It was the first time that the Finn scored since finishing fourth at the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix. It also marked the first time that Alfa Romeo scored since the opening race of the season, where Antonio Giovinazzi also finished in ninth.
Russia: At the 2020 Russian Grand Prix, Kimi Raikkonen equalled Rubens Barrichello’s record of most Grand Prix starts. This was officially Raikkkonen’s 222nd race start, though it was his 223rd start if you include the 2001 Belgian Grand Prix.
Eifel: Kimi Raikkonen made his 323rd Grand Prix start at the 2020 Eifel Grand Prix, setting a new record for most starts by a driver in Formula 1 history.
Portugal: After making his way up to an impressive sixth place in the opening laps, Kimi Raikkonen finished the Portuguese Grand Prix in eleventh position. Raikkonen qualified sixteenth and gained five places from his starting slot. This was the third consecutive race in which the Finn has gained five or more positions. The British Grand Prix, where he lost one place, remained the only time that Raikkonen has finished a race in a worse position than where he started in 2020.
Emilia Romagna: Kimi Raikkonen finished in ninth place at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, moving ahead of his team-mate in the Drivers’ Championship as a result. Raikkonen became the first driver to score from eighteenth on the grid at Imola since Elio de Angelis finished fourth at the 1980 Italian Grand Prix, which was the first World Championship event to be held at the circuit.
Turkey: Kimi Raikkonen reached Q3 for the first time since the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix and, with eighth place, recorded his best qualifying result since the 2019 Belgian Grand Prix. In the race, Raikkonen finished fifteenth. It was his third fifteenth place finish of the season. He recorded more fifteenth place finishes in 2020 than he did in his previous seventeen seasons combined.
Bahrain: 2020 marked the thirteenth time that Kimi Raikkonen has reached the chequered flag at the Bahrain Grand Prix. That equalled the record for most finishes at the event, previously shared between Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso. Raikkonen recorded his first Q1 exit at the event since 2006. The Finn finished fifteenth for a second race in a row, making this the first time that Raikkonen finished in the same position at two races in a row since finishing third at the 2018 Mexican and Brazilian Grands Prix.
Sakhir: Kimi Raikkonen qualified in nineteenth for the Sakhir Grand Prix, qualifying on the back row for the sixth time in 2020. On his way to finishing fourteenth, Raikkonen became the first driver to have raced 800 laps at the Bahrain International Circuit.
Abu Dhabi: With twelfth place at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Kimi Raikkonen recorded his best result since scoring at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. It was also his best result at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix since finishing fourth in 2017.
i beleive he had a decent season overall tbh