Formula One isn't interested in our opinion: Legendary racer Kimi Raikkonen

Kimi Raikkonen threw a parting grenade into the Formula One paddock ahead of the 2022 world championship season, stating that drivers are merely workers of teams who have no input and are not asked for their comments. The 42-year-old Finn, a true classic of the sport, retired from racing at the end of last season, capping a career that includes 349 Grand Prix appearances and 103 podium finishes, including 21 victories. Raikkonen’s biggest success was winning the 2007 Formula One World Championship, the last as a Ferrari driver.

Raikkonen was asked to compare the car he left behind at Yas Marina on December 12, 2021 and the one he encountered on his F1 debut, in his first sit-down interview since the night in Abu Dhabi last month.

“Today the cars are much more reliable. In my early years, every race was like gambling in the casino. You never knew what you would get that day and whether you would even cross the finish line,” the 42-year-old said.

‘We are only employees’ 

“But it doesn’t matter whether you like the development or not. We drivers don’t make decisions about the rules or where we race. We are only employees of the teams, just like mechanics. Formula One is not interested in our opinion,” he added.

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F1 has evolved dramatically in the years since Kimi qualified on the grid, and so has the rest of the world.

“Much has changed in the past 20 years,” Raikkonen said. “Especially with social media, but that’s the way it is all over the world and not just in F1. Fans can now see almost everything which tends to be too much. I can only repeat myself: the drivers are only employees.”

Despite the fact that his most recent victory was at the 2018 United States Grand Prix, 15 years after his first at the 2003 Malaysian Grand Prix, his former nemesis Fernando Alonso has stated that F1 will miss ‘The Iceman.’ However, it could be said that Kimi will not miss it and has no plans to return to the paddock, even if only for a visit.