Kimi Raikkonen, the last F1 world champion with Ferrari, received a special gift directly from Maranello.
A unique present the Finn that Ferrari fans are fondest of will carry in his heart.
A special gift for a special driver. Who doesn’t like the virtual, doesn’t learn foreign languages, he just drives.
And, above all, he doesn’t like interviews but, in the few he releases, he is never trivial. As you can see from the magistral answer he gave to this question from a journalist:
you first started a F1 race at 21, what would you say to that 21 year old now? “Nothing, I wouldn’t talk to him.”
Ferrari gives Raikkonen the car with which he won the 2018 US GP. The Finn received the SF71H of his last triumph in Formula 1 inside a container. By Daniele Sparisci.
The happiness of a child, even if your name is Kimi Raikkonen and you are a master at filtering every emotion. But when the Finn opened the container with the car in which he won his last GP in Formula 1, he melted. In his own way, of course, without superfluous words: «thanks Ferrari».
And he stored it together with the beloved motocross bikes with which he too rides the track on his estate in Finland. Generally, this type of gift is the result of agreements linked to contracts, some drivers as a "supplement" have the car inserted.
"We hope you're having fun," old friends of the “Cavallino”, to whom he remained closely related, told him.
To the point of receiving the SF71H in which he triumphed in the 2018 US GP. One of his last appearances with Ferrari, when the divorce for the following season had already been formalized: he drove divinely that weekend in Austin, resisting Hamilton's and Verstappen’s attacks.
He wanted that victory, the first since his return to the red: 15 years and 294 races after his first career win and 114 GPs since his last race with Lotus. World champion with Scuderia Ferrari on his debut in 2007, Kimi returned in 2014 alongside Fernando Alonso to stay for other seasons with Sebastian Vettel. Now he drives for Alfa-Sauber.
F1: Raikkonen, the imperturbable: "in isolation I never get bored. I don't think about stopping racing». The Finn and his days at home: «virtual races? I prefer to wait to get back on the real tracks. Vettel and Giovinazzi are two true friends».By Daniele Sparisci.
Kimi Raikkonen has always thought by himself about keeping a certain distance with the world. Especially towards that part of Formula 1 that he has always hated: interviews, extras, press conferences. The days of wild parties are far away, Ferrari's latest world champion is a perfect dad. His wife Minttu, little Robin and Rianna whizzing on their tricycles, lockdown at home. In the Finnish woods, on his estate, where he also had a motocross track built. Mud and jumps, he shows no cracks after weeks of insulation. On the contrary, he says that he is able to enjoy children more and that little has changed compared to before. At forty he is the oldest F1 driver, the forced stop has interrupted the hunt for the attendance record: he is at 313, Rubens Barrichello is at -10. But he doesn't care about numbers.
Kimi, how are you doing this period? Aren’t you getting bored?
“Normally enough, much the same as before. I spend all my time with children, we are lucky enough to be able to be outdoors almost always. We do a lot of manual jobs and different activities. My days pass very quickly».
Let's go back to two months ago, to the chaos of the Australian GP. You were on the plane backeven before the race was officially canceled. You really didn’t know if you would race?
“Maybe I knew it or maybe I didn't. But what does it matter now? It's gone now. I simply believe that canceling the race was the right thing to do. And so it was».
What do you think about racing in circuits without an audience?
«We will restart when F1 and the FIA will decide that it is possible to do it safely. It is not our decision, I am sure they will evaluate the picture very carefully. We will race at the right time, even without an audience».
Can this situation change your plans for the future?
"No. We look forward to finding a way to start the season and also to finish it. At some point I'll see what happens and I'll take stock. At the moment nothing changes for me».
How long do you want to continue in Formula 1?
«As long as I have fun and motivation. Now I feel more motivated than ever».
You are back in the team you started with in 2001 (Sauber, now twinned with Alfa), what's the atmosphere like?
"Good. In the second year we get to know each other better: they know what I want and I know what I want from them".
What do you think of online races? Many drivers participate.
«They don't interest me, I prefer to wait to be able to return to a real track».
You didn't even like driving the Ferrari simulator.
“It's not that I didn't like it. Let's say that flying to Italy to put myself in front of the simulator was not exactly the reason why I had chosen this profession. Doing laps on the track is another thing. Anyway, those simulators are completely different and extremely more complex than those of online racing».
It must be strange for a driver to think of a season without the canceled Monte Carlo GP, isn't it?
«It doesn't depend on us and it wasn't just that race. We won't be racing in Australia or anywhere else where we would have liked. Unfortunately, this is the situation».
With such a long pause, isn't there a risk of getting rusty in the body and mind?
«I don't think it's very different from traditional winter stops, when we return to the Barcelona tests. This time I think we will go directly to the first race, I don't see any particular problems».
Is it possible to make friends among the other drivers?
«For me they are Sebastian and Antonio (Vettel and Giovinazzi). Apart from them I don't have many».
You have been the protagonist of the last twenty years of F1. If you could travel back in time, in which era would you compete?
"You cannot go back. I am happy with where I am, when I started and what I have achieved. But, if you really could do it, I would take a look at the F1 of the 70-80s".
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