Many people will remember the disappointments of his WRC sojourn, but as our list below shows, there were also flashes of great promise that hinted at what might have been.

Rally Finland 2009

You don't expect to see many Ferrari caps in a WRC press conference, but this marked a momentous occasion: Kimi's debut on a World Rally Championship event, while still an active Formula 1 driver. You have to go back to 1990 to find the last time that an active F1 driver competed on a World Rally Championship event, when Derek Warwick – at the time a Lotus driver – took part in the RAC Rally at the wheel of a Subaru Legacy.

Kimi was driving an Abarth Grande Punto on his Finnish debut (his choice of car dictated by his links with the Fiat Group) in the Super 2000 category. He ran in the top three in class consistently before crashing out. Nonetheless, he showed that the pace was all there.

Rallye Deutschland 2010

Kimi has been described as a modern-day gladiator behind the steering wheel, so it's appropriate that his one and only WRC stage win came on the tight and twisty Circus Maximus stage of the Rallye Deutschland, around the Porta Nigra Roman gate in Trier (a UNESCO World Heritage site, no less). It's the closest that the WRC comes to the Monaco Grand Prix, so no wonder the Iceman was in his element.

Rally Vosgien, France 2010

So it may not have been exactly stellar opposition, but this small local rally in France, used by Citroen as an asphalt test prior to last year's Rallye de France, will forever have the honour of being won outright by Kimi Raikkonen. "It was nothing special actually: if you look at our car compared to the other ones there, it's normal that we should win," said the Citroen driver. He's right of course but a win is a win – and it remains his only overall rally victory. Other unlikely events where the Iceman has stood on the podium is the Rally della Lanterna in Italy, again contested by Citroen as a practice event. Kimi was second behind his team-mate Sebastien Ogier.

Rally of Turkey 2010

Just three rounds into the 2010 season, this is where Kimi took fifth overall: his highest result to this day. He was helped by the fact that it was a level playing field for everyone, marking the first occasion that the rally had used stages close to the capital in Istanbul rather than the traditional southern stages around Antalya. "Kimi did a great job there," said his co-driver Kaj Lindstrom. "He was just fast with no mistakes."

Rallye Deutschland 2011

Kimi's last points-scoring finish as a rally driver. Another clean rally where he finished sixth overall, having steered cleared of trouble from start to finish. "It's been getting easier, particularly when it comes to the pace notes," he said at the time. The consistency was coming, but to get to the top of rallying – where experience counts for everything – is a two or three year project. Sadly for rally fans, the siren call of Formula 1 turned out to be a bit too much to resist...

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