Kimi Räikkönen joined McLaren from Sauber in 2002. His first season with the team was… unusual. He failed to finish 11 of the 17 races, with a whole slew of mechanical problems, but when he did see the Chequered Flag, he was never lower than fourth. He came agonisingly close to victory in France and looked like being a racing certainty to win his first race in 2003, and duly achieved that landmark at the second round of the year in Malaysia.

There are many ways to take a debut victory but this one earns the plaudits for its lack of drama: on a very hot, very humid day at Sepang, when everyone else in contention was either spinning, sliding or crashing, Kimi drove a very Kimi race: smooth and unruffled, taking victory by 40 seconds. Post-race, he thanked his crew for a good car, thanked Mercedes for a reliable engine and shrugged-off his own performance as nothing special.

The Iceman cometh.

Kimi has a natural affinity with the high-speed, high-stakes rollercoaster that is Spa-Francorchamps. He finished his F1 career with 21 victories, four of which were taken in the Ardennes. Indeed, in the first act of his career, before his two-year sabbatical in the World Rally Championship, his participation in the Belgian Grand Prix either resulted in victory or DNF. 2004 is probably the best. It was a proper, old-school chaotic Belgian Grand Prix. Kimi started 10th, disadvantaged by rain during the single-lap Qualifying session, but somehow came through a first lap melee in fifth, with most of the car intact. He was inch-perfect for the rest of the race, blisteringly quick at various Safety Car restarts, and won without issue.

It was a remarkable performance, given the MP4/19 hadn’t been a particularly competitive car. Daily Express correspondent Bob McKenzie had even offered to run a track naked if it won a race. The team took him up on the offer, and, at the 2005 British Grand Prix, Bob, painted in a silver McLaren livery and with only a sporran to preserve his dignity, made good on his bet and, raising money for the team’s nominated charity, entertained the fans with a 5.141km tour of Silverstone.

Monaco in 2005 was much the same as Monaco today: anyone starting from Pole position and not winning the race has had a pretty bad day. Kimi didn’t have a bad day - but he had to win the hard way. By Lap 20 in Monaco, Kimi had pulled out a healthy lead of five seconds over his main title rival, Fernando Alonso, and was cruising which, of course, is when it all kicked-off. A Minardi spun at Mirabeau, David Coulthard managed to stop but was rear-ended by Michael Schumacher and the track was completely blocked on the way down to Loew’s Hairpin.

The Safety Car was deployed, most cars pitted, but Kimi stayed out. His job at the restart was therefore to pull out enough of a gap on Alonso and the chasing pack to make a pit stop and retain the lead. Aided by a lighter fuel-load, an empty track ahead, and a near-total absence of restraint, he reeled-off 14 coruscating laps, built a 35-second advantage, and emerged from his stop 13 seconds ahead of an extremely well-motivated Alonso.

The 2005 Japanese Grand Prix is probably Kimi’s finest victory. It’s also a contender for anyone’s finest victory. It wasn’t an auspicious beginning to the weekend, however, with Kimi and team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya lining up 17th and 18th, respectively, due to some rough luck in a wet Qualifying. Kimi’s time was 16 seconds off Pole Position and eight seconds behind Fernando, who was 16th. The MP4/20 was, however, rapid.

Suzuka is narrow and fast and doesn’t present many overtaking opportunities, demanding drivers be very brave and very precise - tailor-made for a Räikkönen charge. He was up to 12th after the first lap, then simply picked his way through the traffic. He ran long on his first stint, was up to second by the time he stopped, and was in first when he pitted again. He came back out with a six-second deficit to Giancarlo Fisichella, leading with eight laps to go. He remorselessly dragged that back and took the lead sweeping into the first corner of the final lap. A proper grandstand finish.

In a year dominated by Ferrari and Renault, Kimi finished on the podium six times, with third in the season opener in Bahrain being the pick of the bunch. Starting 22nd and last after a rear suspension failure in Qualifying, Kimi pulled off a monster first lap, making up nine places. He then ran a one-stop race at a two-stop track, displaying brilliant car control with tyres on the ragged edge.

Back in 2006, the Bahrain Grand Prix was still held in the searing heat of the afternoon, and thus the Kimi that clambered out of the car in parc ferme to make his way up to the podium looked absolutely exhausted - but very, very happy. Or, at least, the Kimi version of that, which is a nod of appreciation to his crew and just a twitch of a smile.