For his racing prowess, Kimi Raikkonen will always be known in Formula One, and he is also regarded as one of the best characters in the show.
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With his time at McLaren, Raikkonen solidified his reputation in Formula 1. He was unfortunate to miss out on World Championship success in 2003 and 2005, but he ultimately succeeded in 2007 when he joined Ferrari. Although he was a very skilled Formula 1 driver, “The Iceman” was also possibly the last of a rapidly disappearing species. He was unconcerned with politics, public relations, or media attention, which helped him become a beloved figure among the fans. When Raikkonen announced his retirement from Formula 1 at the end of 2021, he put an end to something he had been treating as a “passion” for a number of years already. Raikkonen then returned home to spend more time with his family, leaving the days of wild parties in the past. Let’s enjoy some of the funniest memories and stories from Raikkonen’s Formula 1 career since he departed the sport.
Icons from two different sports first met during the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2006. Before what would be Michael Schumacher’s final Formula 1 race at the time, Pele of Brazil’s national football team gave him a lifetime achievement medal. Nearly all of the drivers attended the ceremony; we say nearly since Kimi was absent. He would mention that he had missed Pele’s presentation as part of Martin Brundle’s gridwalk, to which Kimi would frankly respond that he had been “having a sh*t.” People, beware of Kimi and live television!
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There were a few crucial bits of gear missing as Ferrari pushed Kimi on his Ferrari onto the grid in Baku in 2017. His lack of gloves to protect his hands while clutching the steering wheel was the minor infraction. The steering wheel was one of the other things that was missing. As Kimi yelled over the radio for someone to bring him his gloves and steering wheel, which fortunately for Kimi, soon arrived, it was amusing for the audience but not for Kimi at the time.
Kimi was able to get the drink that day with his can of coke, but regrettably he hasn’t always been able to. Let’s elaborate. One of the most well-known Formula 1 videos to go viral in recent years was from the 2018 Hungarian Grand Prix, where Kimi and his Ferrari race engineer misunderstood each other about his disconnected drinks pipe. Since then, the phrase “No, no, Kimi, no, you will not take the drink” has been included in lists of famous Kimi-related phrases. Kimi would express his annoyance loud and clear in the Ferrari garage! The questionable beverages that were packaged came back to bother Raikkonen later that year during practise for the Turkish GP and at the 2021 Monaco GP, where he was competing for Alfa Romeo. We hope Kimi can finally enjoy the beverage now that Formula 1 is behind him!
The Prince of Bahrain hosted a celebration that started 16 insane days after Kimi finished P2 in Bahrain in 2012 from P11 on the grid. Kimi and his friend, ice hockey player Kimmo “Piki” Pikkarainen, were there. The antics included getting into a swimming pool while still wearing clothing, trying to impersonate Maradona, travelling to Helsinki for the May Day celebrations, injuring his ankle, and missing a Lotus test as a result. While he was healing from the injuries, Kimi had at one point been moving around his home using a luggage trolley. When the Spanish Grand Prix rolled around, it was back to Formula 1 business, and he finished third in the Lotus to record back-to-back podium results.
Even though he didn’t complete his training, Kimi was a reasonably skilled mechanic in addition to being an excellent Formula 1 driver. That came in handy one day in 2017, when pre-season testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Barcelona was taking place and the bathroom on the Ferrari bus wasn’t operating properly. Kimi was given the required tools, and after discovering that the system was comparable to the one on his boat, he rapidly restored full functionality to the Ferrari toilet.
