Kimi Räikkönen is proud of his journey in F1

The year 2001 marks the arrival of four young drivers in Formula 1. Among them, a young Finnish driver, discreet and shy, was granted a provisional super license because of concerns about his lack of experience. Indeed, he had only competed in seventeen single-seater races so far.

Twenty years have passed and the man quickly nicknamed Iceman has become the most capped and popular driver of his generation. But every story, no matter how beautiful it is, must have an end and it is also that the veteran of the grid is preparing to compete in his 350th and last Grand Prix this weekend in Abu Dhabi.

Is there a memory that Kimi Räikkönen will cherish more than any other in his long and prestigious career?

« Obviously, winning the championship in 2007 with Ferrari was special,” he told AFP. « That’s why we are all here, to try to be champions. It may be the best memory, even though there are others. Every year, there are good and bad times, just like in life. Some days are not as good as others because you slept badly or just because they suck! If too many years had been more bad than good, I would never have stayed for so long. It’s not always nice to leave home for a 10-hour flight. I never look forward to it and every time I say to myself, ‘Oh shit!’. But when you find yourself doing what you came to do on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, it’s alright! That being said, I’m glad it’s over. »

By evoking his future retirement, Kimi Räikkönen has often declared that he can’t wait to be done. Will he not, however, feel a little hint of emotion?

« I think my wife is more moved than me. Formula 1 takes up a lot of time but it has never been essential for me. My life has always been outside, there are other more important areas. Today, my schedule affects my whole family and I look forward to having nothing planned and doing what they want. Maybe I will miss the races but there are probably better and more fun championships. So it’s impossible to say. »

The Finn is in any case happy to have always managed his career as he wanted. I’m sure a lot of people tried to give me advice but I didn’t really listen! (laughs) I always thought that you should try to live in the best way for yourself. At work, if I had the choice, I wouldn’t do most of what is asked of me, but in the way of leading one’s personal life, you have to do it for yourself. If you try to do what others want, it can hold for a year or two but it won’t end well. I am happy to have lived in accordance with myself. Good or bad, I can accept it because these are my decisions. Even if I could, I wouldn’t change anything about my career.

Räikkönen has known many different teams and teammates. In both cases, which were the best according to him?

All my teams were from different countries and it’s refreshing to work with different nationalities, Swiss (at Sauber now Alfa Romeo), British (at McLaren then at Lotus) and Italians (at Ferrari). But in most teams, I stayed quite a long time, which shows that I was having a good time.

« Regarding my teammates, I had good relationships with everyone, even if, of course, it can get a bit heated sometimes for many reasons (laughs). Maybe Sebastian (Vettel) because we knew each other better. With Antonio (Giovinazzi), we also knew each other through Ferrari before being teammates, that makes a difference. »

Kimi also did not forget to designate his toughest opponent. I think it’s Michael (Schumacher). I raced against him for many years and we had a lot of great battles together.

It has been years since Kimi Räikkönen’s fans have been showing up at racetracks with the famous signs “Kimi for President.” Now that his F1 chapter is over, will the Finn take advantage of his free time to work on a possible presidential campaign?

« That would be funny! But more from Finland than from F1. F1 is way too political, look at what we are doing here (in Saudi Arabia), money talks. »