He stormed to second in last year’s Bahrain Grand Prix, amidst the controversy of the race being staged after being cancelled a year earlier due to protests.

Kimi Raikkonen has more often than not been strong here. He was third in 2005, 2006 and 2007. He was runner-up in 2008. And on his return to Formula One after a brief stint in the World Rally Championship (WRC), he once again stormed to second. 

It was typical of Formula One’s greatest ice cream taster. The frequently grumpy Finn will most certainly have stocked up on his ice lollies this weekend, in the scorching heat of Bahrain, where the temperatures can sometimes prove unbearable to drivers.

And having won the season-opener in Australia, Raikkonen managed to finish runner-up to Fernando Alonso in China last weekend. 

The Lotus driver is hoping to take his E21 one step further on Sunday.

“Apart from Malaysia we’ve had good races this year,” the 33-year-old from Espoo explained. “But that said there have only been three races so it’s too early to say anything. Just because we had a good result there last year, it doesn’t mean Bahrain will be good for us again this year. 

“We have to try and do the best we can in every race and try to score some points to keep us in the fight. If everything goes our way, it will be a good result again. However, it is useless to promise anything beforehand. This is motor racing and whatever can happen, will happen.”

But while Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, along with many others, have complained about the degradation of Pirelli’s tyres, Kimi found it amusing. 

“I think you can push on these tyres, but it’s never perfect,” he said. “You cannot always push 100 per cent. I think they are very good in qualifying and have good grip, so it’s up to you and you have to look after them a bit more in the race. 

“It’s not really any different from last year – at least for us anyway – so I don’t really understand why people are complaining.”

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