Raikkonen caused a storm of controversy when he was granted his Superlicence by the FIA in December, so that he could race for Sauber, despite only having competed in 23 car races throughout his career. He has a wealth of experience in Karting, however, and won the Formula Renault championship last year.

The young Finn began karting in 1991 and competed in national Kart races, Class Mini and then Class Raket Junior throughout 1991, 1992 and 1993. He also participated in the Finnish Cup in 1993, when he finished ninth. In 1994 he was able to improve to second and as a consequence was able to move up to the Formula A series in 1995.

He continued Karting throughout the European series from 1996 to 1999 with some notable achievements. He was the Finnish Formula A champion in 1997 and 1998, and was also second in the European (Karting) Grand Prix in 1998 and third in the Monaco Cup. In 1999 he entered his first Formula Renault race, with Haywood, where he finished third.

2000 saw him competing in British Formula Renault full-time, where he finished on the podium in all ten of the races that he contested and secured the championship crown despite only competing in those 10 events. Raikkonen also took part in three rounds of the European Formula Renault championship, where he won twice, took pole position twice and set two fastest lap times.

He also caught the eye of Peter Sauber, who invited him to test for his Formula1 team. The Swiss outfit were so impressed with his performance that they began contractual negotiations to secure him as their second race driver. Once he secured his Superlicence his appointment was immediately announced.

Raikkonen has turned in solid performances in preseason testing, and set consistently fast times during race simulations. His new team boss has defended his abilities to those that have challenged his new role, and it is now up to his performance this season to see if the criticism will come to a close.