Alonso opens up about Räikkönen
In the Beyond the Grid podcast, Fernando Alonso opened up about the personality of the paddock's elder statesman, Kimi Räikkönen.
Having arrived in Formula 1 in 2001 at the wheel of underperforming cars, Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen are now the most decorated drivers in the history of the sport.
For the current Alpine driver, the two former Ferrari stars could never have imagined, at the beginning of their careers, what their respective careers would become: When you start at that time, you have no idea what the future holds for you. What is certain is that we both had a fantastic time in F1 and we both won at least one championship. I’m happy to have shared so many years with Kimi.
Iceman is often described as a cold person (hence his nickname) and without a conscience by the press and observers. Conversely, his entourage has always maintained that Räikkönen’s personality was the opposite of his image, once in his private sphere. For Fernando Alonso, those who do not know him have a false image of the 2007 world champion.
« He is very honest and above all very frank. Sometimes we have the impression that he wears a mask with him, he can have a very cold behavior and he does not speak much. But once outside of F1, he is very different, he is not Iceman, what you see is very different from who he really is.
Alonso enjoys spending time with his former title rival: « We can laugh and talk together about the moments we’ve had on the track. We meet in airports, outside the paddock, in restaurants, or sometimes even at parties; he is one of the guests I always look forward to seeing. You can always have a good conversation with him on many different topics.
Earlier in the year, when Räikkönen announced his retirement, Alonso had gone into more detail about the driver that Iceman is, in a press conference. As a competitor, he will be missed because he has been a rival for many years and we have had great battles in the past. We had more competitive cars and we were fighting for championships. He has always been fair and respectful. He is a tough competitor but old-school, so very correct.
« On this aspect, I think I will miss him because we could trust him when we were side by side. He never did crazy things or put another driver in danger,” he concluded.
