“Go away me alone, I do know what I’m doing.” Sounds acquainted, doesn’t it? It stays one of the crucial well-known radio messages in fashionable Method 1 historical past. It wasn’t only a heat-of-the-moment burst of frustration; it was a manifesto.
When Kimi ‘The Iceman’ Räikkönen quietly hung up his helmet on the finish of 2021 after 352 Grands Prix and a World Championship, the paddock misplaced one in every of its most genuine characters.
Whereas contemporaries reminiscent of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso proceed to compete on the highest degree, Räikkönen selected to look ahead. He didn’t transition right into a TV host or a model ambassador. As a substitute, he did what he all the time did greatest: vanished on his personal phrases. And the reality is, the Iceman seems completely content material away from Method 1.
To know Kimi’s current, one has to understand the anomaly of his previous. He entered the game in 2001 as one in every of Method 1’s biggest gambles, a 21-year-old with solely 23 automotive races to his identify, forcing an anxious FIA to grant a provisional superlicence. He left it 20 years later as a legend, a driver who pushed Michael Schumacher to the brink in a McLaren, and the person who delivered Ferrari’s final Drivers’ Championship in 2007.
However you possibly can’t totally extract racing from a person’s DNA. It simply seems a bit completely different as of late. In 2022, Räikkönen deepened his involvement with the Kawasaki Racing Crew within the FIM Motocross World Championship. It was removed from a superficial business enterprise; motocross had been a lifelong ardour that he was not often in a position to pursue totally throughout his closely contracted Method 1 profession. By taking up a hands-on position behind the scenes, he swapped the glamour of the Grand Prix paddock for muddy circuits and logistics, largely away from mainstream consideration.
There have been, in fact, transient cravings for a steering wheel. He crossed the Atlantic for one-off cameos within the NASCAR Cup Collection in 2022 and 2023. Whereas the outings generated loads of consideration, neither translated right into a headline consequence. However his most important time dedication at the moment occurs on a a lot smaller scale.
But maybe probably the most significant racing challenge in Räikkönen’s life at the moment is far nearer to dwelling. At ten years previous, his son, Robin Räikkönen, is already turning heads throughout the aggressive European karting scene. He’s quick, targeted, and carries an uncanny resemblance to his father behind the visor.
The Iceman’s position on this new chapter is totally hands-on; he has brazenly referred to himself as his son’s mechanic, continuously seen making ready the karts and dealing immediately on the equipment on the observe.
True to kind, he refuses to hype up his son’s future F1 profession. When requested about Robin’s trajectory, Kimi’s response stays grounded: “He’s having fun with it. Every part goes properly. We’ll see.” Solely time will inform if the youthful Räikkönen will finally make his personal option to Method 1. However don’t anticipate the daddy to construct the hype. For the Finn, it’s not in regards to the legacy, it’s simply in regards to the subsequent lap.
