Kimi Räikkönen vs Jackie Stewart
Champion of champions
Kimi Räikkönen and Jackie Stewart’s F1 careers each lasted less than a decade. That’s not particularly long by the standards of today – consider that Rubens Barrichello is heading into his record-breaking 19th season.
But they both did a lot of winning in their nine-year stints in the top flight as the statistics below make clear.
An in addition to their championships both also finished as runner-up in two seasons. Stewart was second to Graham Hill in 1968 and Emerson Fittipaldi in 1972, his performance in the latter season dogged by a stomach ulcer.
Räikkönen was second to Michael Schumacher in 2003 and Fernando Alonso in 2005. In the latter year he was dogged by engine problems in his McLaren.
Arguably, both retired earlier than they might have done. Stewart decided early in 1973 it would be his last season, and he spurned big-money offers to come back.
Räikkönen was dropped by Ferrari at the end of 2009 and has not shown an interest in returning, happy instead to concentrate on rallying.
Which of these drivers should go through to the next round of the Champion of Champions? Vote for which you think was best below and explain who you voted for and why in the comments.
| Kimi Räikkönen | Jackie Stewart | |
 |
 |
|
| Titles | 2007 | 1969, 1971, 1973 |
| Second in title year/s | Lewis Hamilton | Jacky Ickx, Ronnie Peterson, Emerson Fittipaldi |
| Teams | Sauber, McLaren, Ferrari | BRM, Matra, Tyrrell |
| Notable team mates | David Coulthard, Juan Pablo Montoya, Felipe Massa | Graham Hill, Johnny Servoz-Gavin, Francois Cevert |
| Starts | 156 | 99 |
| Wins | 18 (11.54%) | 27 (27.27%) |
| Poles | 16 (10.26%) | 17 (17.17%) |
| Modern points per start1 | 9.60 | 11.20 |
| % car failures2 | 19.23 | 32.32 |
| Modern points per finish3 | 11.89 | 16.55 |
| Notes | Signed by McLaren after a single season with Sauber | Finished his first six races in the points and won his eighth start |
| Championship runner-up in third season and again in 2005 | Runner-up to Graham Hill in 1968 before winning three titles in five years | |
| Won title in first season for Ferrari after stunning late-season turn-around | Retired on the eve of what would have been his 100th start after team mate Cevert was killed | |
| Bio | Kimi Räikkönen | Jackie Stewart |
1 How many points they scored in their career, adjusted to the 2010 points system, divided by the number of races they started
2 The percentage of races in which they were not classified due to a mechanical failure
3 How many points they scored in their career, adjusted to the 2010 points system, divided by the number of starts in which they did not suffer a race-ending mechanical failure
Round one
Which was the better world champion driver?
- Kimi Räikkönen (24%)
- Jackie Stewart (76%)
Total Voters: 685
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Read the F1 Fanatic Champion of Champions introduction for more information and remember to check back tomorrow for the next round.
Have you voted in the previous rounds of Champion of Champions yet? Find them all here:
Champion of Champions
- Ayrton Senna voted Champion of Champions by F1 Fanatic readers
- Champion of Champions in stats
- Champion of Champions Final: Senna vs Schumacher
- Ayrton Senna vs Juan Manuel Fangio
- Michael Schumacher vs Alain Prost
- Ayrton Senna vs Jack Brabham
- Juan Manuel Fangio vs Jackie Stewart
- Alain Prost vs Niki Lauda
- Jim Clark vs Michael Schumacher
- Jack Brabham vs Lewis Hamilton
Images © Ferrari spa (Räikkönen), Ford.com (Stewart)
Lee said on 22nd January 2011, 13:31
cant stand jackie stewart so its kimi for me
kowalsky said on 22nd January 2011, 13:50
that’s a surprise.!!! You are entitled to have that opinion. But can you elaborate, and tell me what are the things that you don’t like about him? It must be more than one to just vote for kimi, with the huge diference in numbers, and risks he took to get those numbers.
Lee said on 22nd January 2011, 15:53
He refuses to accept the opinions of other pundits and commentators, has a level of arrogance which i think is unjustified and somewhat unessecary despite his impressive record and just comes across as a not very nice bloke
I also hold him almost entirely responsible for costing silverstone the british grand prix, were it not for a very unfortunately timed credit crunch we would not be looking at a hugely impressive redevelopment of the track but instead be visiting donnington for the foreseeable future.
Kimi was a fantastic racer, he was ridiculously fast and was let down by some really unreliable mclarens on more than one occasion which could have given him far more success than we are judging him on here. Admittedly at the end he had lost interest and as a ferrari fan he couldnt stay on.
But i cant bring myself to vote for Jackie Stewart.
kowalsky said on 22nd January 2011, 16:47
like i said. Everybody is entitled to have an opinion.
Lee said on 22nd January 2011, 16:50
totally agree
SparkyJ23 (@sparkyj23) said on 22nd January 2011, 13:33
I’ll take the guy who mae the best of his talent as opposed to the guy who got out the car for an Ice-cream.
Sir Jackie it is
Ral (@ral) said on 23rd January 2011, 1:46
Seriously, why does this keep being brought up? It was a shock-journalist picture with no meaning.
His car was out of action. Did not work. Could not move. Was not drivable. Not going to move an inch by its intended means of propulsion. Kaput. Un-fixable within time to go back out on track again before the race would finish. Was never going to be able to participate in the rest of the race.
Do I need to come up with a different way to try to explain this point? That part of his job was done for the day. No more driving was to take place for him in that particular race. Over. Done with. Just waiting for the post-race analysis with his engineers.
kowalsky said on 22nd January 2011, 13:45
i was surprised kimi passed the first cut agaist vettel, but he is a cult driver for the younger generation. I can understand that, with a little effort.
But he is now against f1 royalty. A driver that did everything that’s possible in the sport, with pace and grace.
He saved lives, with the work he did on safety. He was a pioneer in that aspect of racing.
And some of his victories are part of the sport’s folklore.
He is my number six of all times as a pilot, number one as a motorsports figure.
sw6569 (@sw6569) said on 22nd January 2011, 14:36
I think thats a slightly harsh description of Kimi, but certainly a really apt one for Jackie. F1 royalty, I like it
JamesC1991 (@jamesc1991) said on 22nd January 2011, 13:51
Jackie wins this one without a doubt and gets my vote
Kimi can’t get close on this one :(
rdenatale (@rdenatale) said on 22nd January 2011, 13:56
To use one of Kimi’s most frequent phrases, “For sure” it has to be Sir jackie.
kowalsky said on 22nd January 2011, 15:18
that’s more like massa’s. May be he copied it from kimi when they were at ferrari.
Feynman said on 22nd January 2011, 16:18
Was just watching this great video of McLaren’s 1975 season.
http://vimeo.com/16014505
You get shambolic old style race starts, chaotic marshalling in the rain, a bit of famous Bernie’s ordering about, some race mechanics bending steering arms back with brute force
… the highlight has to be 9minutes in when Emerson goes “for sure” crazy, with two of them in 10 seconds.
Some classic 35year-old vintage “for sures”, a treat, and perhaps a clue as to where young Felipe picked them up from.
sw6569 (@sw6569) said on 22nd January 2011, 20:08
cheers for this link, hadn’t seen that before. Really scary stuff – puts the (lack of) safety into perspective again when you have marshals waving yellow flags in the middle of the circuit
melkurion (@melkurion) said on 23rd January 2011, 3:06
Noooo….why did you have to post this video…? It’s 4 am, I just got home, I’m drunk, I sent a girl home because I need sleep, I decided to check internet for a few minutes saw this link, now I’m 8 minutes into it, and I can’t stop watching it!!!!!
Miguel Machado said on 22nd January 2011, 14:45
Comparing Jackie to Kimi… I think that Kimi can be compared to James Hunt. Both win a single championship, in part as result of unlucky of opponents and probably kimi have a life style that James Hunt had, adapted at the now times…
Faraz (@faraz) said on 22nd January 2011, 14:46
Im sorry but Jackie takes this by a mile he drove in the most dangerous are of the sport and won three CHAMPIONSHIPS he is among the best ever.
George (@george) said on 22nd January 2011, 14:53
Easy choice for me, Jackie is #1 in my book.
JohnGreen (@johngreen) said on 22nd January 2011, 15:09
Voted for Kimi
Why??
Felt sorry that his Dad passed away a couple of weeks ago.
SundarF1 (@sundarf1) said on 22nd January 2011, 15:17
Kimi was amazingly quick and consistent, and arguably the fastest racing driver of his time, but Jackie is one of the all-time greats. Much as I adore Kimi’s ice-cool ways and his driving, in my mind, the Scotsman is undoubtedly a greater champion.
Willis (@willis) said on 22nd January 2011, 15:18
Jackie Stewart easily! There shouldn’t even be a discussion on this :P
morningview66 (@morningview66) said on 22nd January 2011, 15:22
As much as im a massive Kimi fan and rate him amongst the top 10-15 ever, you cant argue against Stewart’s 3 championships and what he has done for the sport as a whole.So i voted for him.
On the other hand i think Raikkonen gets to much stick for not being bothered. As soon as Massa was (unfortunately) sidelined and the team got more behind Kimi he delivered 4 straight podiums, including a win in a less than brilliant car.
Tinakori Road (@tinakori-road) said on 22nd January 2011, 15:38
Jackie Stewart in the BRM catching Jimmy Clark in the Lotus at Spa in the rain in 1967 the year after his big crash, well, as much as I am a Kimi fan, shows more to me than Kimi’s speed advantage over Stewart. If the car is not great, Kimi does not try hard.
Edsel (Joshy) said on 22nd January 2011, 15:45
I would have to go with Kimi on this one. Call me crazy if you wish :-)
kowalsky said on 22nd January 2011, 16:52
crazy.
Victor. said on 22nd January 2011, 15:56
Stewart is potentially my favourite driver ever. I wouldn’t mind being like him when I’m older :P.
Regarding the actual match-up, this is a walkover.