Kimi Raikkonen was born in Espoo in Finland. He along with his elder brother Rami when younger was survived by their parents Matti and Paula.

Their parents worked odd jobs to meet the expenses of looking after the family. Their father was a Taxi driver who would also work during the nights as a night club bouncer. Their mother worked as an office clerk.

As they were living in a suburban area Kimi and Rami has access to motocross bikes which they would ride every evening after school. Kimi rode this just when he was 3 years old motivated by watching his elder brother do it. He had training wheels on his bike.

At Age 10 Kimi began driving Go karts and participated in Kart races and championships. Rami went more towards the direction of Rally driving. All these motorsports involvement really stressed the family into big expenses and their father really had to work multiple jobs and avoid even repairs to their home just to make ends meet.

At 16 Kimi left school and began learning a course for mechanics. In the mean time as he was involved in the automotive world Kimi also got sponsored drives for small Motorsports Teams in the lower categories.

His experience in these events helped him to get sponsored to Finnish and European karting championships where he competed against big names and talents. These events also helped him gain exposure to major sponsors. And eventually Sauber F1 Team noticed him and gave him an opportunity for a test drive.

At just age 21 Kimi signed a contract for Sauber F1 Team for the 2001 Formula one season. Due to his young age (during those years F1 drivers entered more into their mid 20s) many critics feared and raised concerns over his fitness to race at the top level of motor racing. But Kimi silenced them by finishing a respectable 6th in his first race.

Kimi was haunted by numerous car mechanical failures during his 3 year stint with Mclaren

Kimi would go on to race for McLaren for several years. He would come very close to the championship in at least 2 or 3 seasons. It was mostly due to hard luck where his car would fail to reach the finish line in most cases. Finally in 2007 when Kimi was driving for Ferrari, he would eventually become a Formula One World Champion at the final race in Brazil with barely 1 point ahead of the driver in second.

Kimi's story is more than just a rags to rich story but rather a success story of how handwork and chasing your dream leads to great things.

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