Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso were teammates at Ferrari for just one season in 2014, with the Spaniard outpacing the Finn comfortably.
Follow Us
Former Formula 1 world champion Kimi Raikkonen revealed that there was ‘something odd’ between him and Fernando Alonso during their one season together in the same team.
Raikkonen and Alonso were teammates at Ferrari for just one season in 2014, with the Spaniard outpacing the Finn comfortably.
And while Raikkonen respects Alonso, he also hinted at some discord between the two during that one season.
“I think he’s always been very good. As a teammate, I’m kind of certain that there was something odd happening, like between us,” Raikkonen told the Beyond the Grid podcast.
“For sure, I didn’t have a very good year, for many reasons. I didn’t do that well, but we all know he’s fast every weekend.”
However, Raikkonen also added that he enjoyed his battles with Alonso because it pushed him to be better. Typically, ‘The Iceman’said he was least bothered who his teammate was.
“I’ve never been in a position to pick who my teammate is, so it could be anybody. I think that’s good because it pushes you always and [forces you to] push each other. I don’t see any negatives,” he said.
“If you purely looked at the numbers of qualifying or this and that, then some people are more interested [in that]. Honestly, I’m not so fussed about winning against my teammate in qualifying. To me, the race has always been the important part of the weekend.”
After 2014, both enjoyed very contrasting fortunes. Kimi Raikkonen played a support role for Sebastian Vettel, who replaced Alonso at Ferrari. Eventually, the Finn left the team in 2019 for Alfa Romeo, where he saw out his career.
Alonso, meanwhile, rejoined McLaren for a stint that lasted until 2018 and is remembered for all the wrong reasons. He then left the sport for two years but returned with Alpine – formerly Renault – for 2021.
This meant that Raikkonen and Alonso once again got to do battle, something the Finn enjoyed.
“We have had some good battles this year and end up racing against each other. Obviously, we are both in different parts of our careers than we were in those days,” he said.
“I think one thing you can notice is that you can race with him very closely, as it always was with him.
“You kind of know what’s going to happen or what was not going to happen so, in that way, yes, it’s different. You get what you expect and, with some other people, you are not so sure,” Raikonnen concluded.
