Mr. Raikkonen is a great driver, one that will go into history. Besides, he probably is the person in F1 with more misspellings of his last name.
Few, if any, can make more of a car on grinded tyres with no fuel, as his lap times prove clearly. You have to explain this impressive dominance before muttering any "but" or "if" or "worse than" or "not that fast":
He's a genius, an artist, one of those that somehow were born for what they do. We have a grid now that has at least three of them (Alonso and Hamilton, for example), not counting Mark Webber.
Now that Hamilton is admired by how fast he mastered his car (and he deserves it!), I feel I have to remind the forum that Raikkonnen actually jumped into an F1 car after driving a Formula Renault.
A mechanic ruined last Ferrari race, true, but that does not mean he's less of a driver. He's having the "horrible year", he will recover.
He's also the highest paid driver in history, which talks volumes about his coolness in a world of financial sharks, but that's not what I like about him.
What I like about Raikkonen are few things, but they have a place in my soul...
I like when he raced at Monaco kart race, his steering wheel broke and he continued racing (like Tazio Nuvolari during the Mille Miglia) while waving the steering wheel (unlike Tazio, I imagine) along the main straight.
Next kart race at Monaco he took the wrong side of the fence until he found the end of the road. Then,
he lifted his kart to the other side of the fence and continued racing, finishing third.
I liked when he overtook Fisichella in the last lap at Suzuka.
I liked when he went to a strip club and stripped himself, to the embarrassment of McLaren.
I liked when he said that he wishes to move to WRC.
I like when he fall asleep until 30 minutes before his first GP.
I like that he is probably the guy that more McLarens has broken (over 30 I'd say). I don't know if Ron Dennis finally understood....
I like (very much!) that his father is a road builder, like, ehem, me.
