AUSTIN, Texas — Kimi Raikkonen’s second stint with Ferrari has been long on frustration and short on victories.
That finally changed Sunday at the U.S. Grand Prix, where the Finnish driver earned his first win in five years, while a good enough day from Ferrari and a late block from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen denied Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton a fifth career Formula One championship.
A former world champion with Ferrari, Raikkonen hadn’t won after his return to the team in 2014 while teammate Sebastian Vettel fought Hamilton for the championship the last two seasons.
Raikkonen’s most previous win had been with Lotus at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in 2013. He’d driven his Ferrari to three second-place finishes this season before Sunday’s victory.
Success finally came with a muscular performance by both driver and car on a day when Hamilton could have clinched the championship with a sixth U.S. Grand Prix in seven years.
Raikkonen won the season championship with Ferrari in 2008, a title that came down to the last race of the season. He rejoined Ferrari at a time the Italian team was lagging far behind Mercedes.