Finn announces his retirement on the eve of the Dutch Grand Prix.
Kimi Räikkönen announced that he would be drawing curtains on his 21-year career in Formula One at the end of the season. Räikkönen, who made his debut with Sauber in 2001, will be fittingly saying goodbye to the sport with the same team, albeit in a different guise, Alfa Romeo.
After making his debut with Sauber in 2001, Räikkönen’s talents in his debut season caught the eyes of Ron Dennis, who signed him up for McLaren. Between 2002 to 2006, Räikkönen proved his worth as one of the best in the world. Had it not been for reliability issues during multiple seasons at McLaren, Räikkönen could well have had a couple of world championships in his bag. Räikkönen replaced Michael Schumacher at Ferrari for the 2007 season. After an intense, season long battle with the McLaren’s of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, Räikkönen pipped them both to take his only world championship to date. Räikkönen, till date, is Ferrari’s last world champion.
After two mixed seasons with Ferrari following his title winning campaign, Räikkönen was paid off by the team to make space for Fernando Alonso. The Finn spent two years away from the sport, pursuing his interests at NASCAR and rallying. Räikkönen returned to the sport in 2012 with Lotus and was right on the pace. Even though Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull dominated the era, Räikkönen drove the wheels of his Lotus to take two victories with the team. Kimi returned to Ferrari in 2014 and was with the team till 2018. At the US Grand Prix in 2018, Räikkönen became the oldest race winner at 39, since Nigel Mansell in 1994. Räikkönen returned to Sauber in 2019, although the team was now under their new name Alfa Romeo Racing, where he will see out his career.
Known for his dislike of media activities and monosyllabic answers, Räikkönen is one of the sport’s cult personalities. Aptly nicknamed the Iceman, Räikkönen is known to have a cool temperament during tense moments.
The Finn will leave the sport with one driver’s world title, 21 victories, and 103 podiums and as the sport’s most experienced driver ever, with 344 races under his belt.
In a typical Räikkönen manner, the Finn announced his retirement on social media with a short and simple note to his fans, without much of a hassle. The Finn said, “This is it. This will be my last season in Formula 1. This is a decision I did during last winter. It was not an easy decision but after this season it is time for new things. Even though the season is still on, I want to thank my family, all my teams, everyone involved in my racing career and especially all of you great fans that have been rooting for me all this time.
Formula 1 might come to an end for me but there is a lot more in life that I want to experience and enjoy. See you around after all of this.”
Räikkönen’s absence from the grid next season means that one of the Alfa Romeo seats is up for grabs for sure and it is very likely that the Finn will be replaced by his compatriot Valtteri Bottas, with George Russell taking Bottas’ seat at Mercedes. Although an official announcement is yet to be made, the following few weeks will be a crucial one for the driver line up for 2022 and beyond.
Räikkönen meanwhile will enter his 345th Grand Prix this weekend, as Formula One returns to Zandvoort after more than three decades!
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