Car: 3

Nationality: Finnish

Date of Birth: 17/10/1979

Place of Birth: Espoo, Finland

Marital Status: Married to Jenni

Height: 1.75m

Weight: 71kg

Resident: Switzerland

Favourite: Music Eminem

Hobbies: Snowboarding, jogging, going to the gym, MotoX, Ice-hockey

Formula 1

2006   Team McLaren Mercedes Driver.
 
2005   Team McLaren Mercedes: 112 points; second in the Drivers's Championship; winner in Spain, Monaco, Canada, Hungary, Turkey,  Belgium and Japan; second in France, Brazil and China; third in Bahrain and Britain.
 
2004   Team McLaren Mercedes: 45 points; seventh in the Drivers'Championship; winner in Belgium; second in Brazil and Britain; third in China.

2003   Team McLaren Mercedes: 91 points; second in the Drivers'Championship; winner in Malaysia; second in Brazil, San Marino,Austria, Monaco, Hungary, USA and Japan; third in Australia and Britain.

2002   Team McLaren Mercedes: 24 points; sixth in the Drivers'Championship; second in France; third in Australia, European           Grand Prix at the Nürburgring and Japan.
 
2001   Sauber Petronas: Nine points; 10th in the Drivers'Championship; fourth in Austria and Canada; fifth in Britain;sixth in Australia.

Ferrari's Raikkonen confident ahead of Magny-cours

ROME, June 26 (Ansa) -- Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen said on Tuesday that a series of changes made to his car since his disappointing fourth place at Indianapolis made him confident about this weekend's French Grand Prix.

"I feel increasingly at ease with the F2007 car," said the Finn, who won the first race of the 2007 season but then lost ground in the standings.

"We did some good tests at Silverstone. The car was much better than in the two North American races and this gives me confidence for Magny-Cours," he said in remarks published on the Ferrari website.

   
Raikkonen, who is currently fourth in the world championship standings, said modifications to the aerodynamics had produced good results and that the F2007 car's performance had improved considerably.

   
He admitted that he didn't know whether the improvement would be enough to make an impression on McLaren's perfect combination of speed and reliability.

   
"After seven races we must start reducing the gap between us and our rivals, straight away," he noted.

   
Ferrari goes into this weekend's French Grand Prix needing a victory over McLaren to keep its championship hopes alive.

   
After seeing Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso dominate in the last three races, the Italian team trails McLaren by 35 points in the constructors' standings and the drivers' standings also show a similar divide.

   
Ferrari's tests at Silverstone have been aimed primarily at giving its drivers the speed they need to break McLaren's recent monopoly on pole positions.

   
Because it is increasingly difficult to overtake on many circuits, top grid positions are a key part of the British team's recent success, pundits say.

F1: Raikkonen denies being unhappy at Ferrari

 
MAGNY-COURS, June 28 (Ansa) -- Finland's Kimi Raikkonen denied being unhappy at Ferrari on Thursday and brushed aside rumours that the Italian team could bring in Spain's Fernando Alonso to replace him.

   
"The rumours about Alonso coming to Ferrari to replace me? I'm fine where I am. These rumours don't interest me," he said at a press conference ahead of this weekend's French Grand Prix.

   
After winning the season-opening Grand Prix in Australia, Raikkonen's best results have been two third places. He is now fourth in the drivers' standings, 26 points adrift of championship leader Lewis Hamilton, McLaren's new-found "wonderboy."

   
Ferrari boss Luca Cordero di Montezemolo was recently quoted in the Italian press as saying he was still waiting for "the real Raikkonen" to emerge.

   
The Finn is reportedly the highest-paid driver in Formula 1. He moved to Ferrari after seven-times world champ Michael Schumacher left and hopes were high that he would follow in the German's footsteps.

   
Raikkonen's former boss at McLaren, Ron Dennis, has been quoted as saying he thinks the 27-year-old driver is "suffering" at Ferrari.

   
Meanwhile, reigning world champ Alonso indicated he was not entirely comfortable at McLaren earlier this month by complaining that his team-mate Hamilton was getting "all the support and help".

   
This immediately led to speculation that the Spanish double world champion might be looking for a new team next year.

   
But Raikkonen dismissed such talk as idle chatter on Thursday as he prepared for this weekend's race at Magny-Cours.

   
He also appeared confident that his run of poor results was about to end. He said recent tests at Silverstone in England had enabled technicians to improve his F2007 car considerably.

   
"Last week we did some good tests. I think we have improved, although it's impossible to say whether we've improved enough to win," he said.

   
Ferrari goes into this weekend's French Grand Prix needing a victory over McLaren to put its championship challenge back on track.

   
After seeing Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso dominate in the last three races, the Italian team trails McLaren by 35 points in the constructors' standings.