After failing to win the World Championship with Ferrari, Sebastian Vettel said, “I have failed,” but Kimi Raikkonen believes there is more to that than just a driver’s performance.
Raikkonen is still the only driver to have won a World title with Ferrari 14 years after his 2007 triumph.
And that’s after racers like Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso, who both arrived at Ferrari having already won Drivers’ Titles, tried their luck.
With Ferrari, though, both drivers only advanced as far as second place—Vettel twice and Alonso three times.
The German said he had failed when he was fired by the Scuderia following the 2020 season.
We have worked tirelessly as a team to compete for the championship ever since the day I joined, as we have done on several occasions, he claimed.
“The championship was not ours to claim. Therefore, looking back, you could argue that I failed and that we failed in that regard.”
In spite of the fact that Raikkonen admits that it is a failure because Formula 1 drivers are there to win, he claims there are always “endless reasons” why a driver doesn’t succeed.
He declared on the Beyond The Grid podcast, “We are all here to win. “Failure is a relative term if you lose.
“I don’t mean that negatively because there could be countless explanations for it.
“You might declare that the year was irrelevant or that it failed if you play on a team where winning is expected. But occasionally, things like that do happen.”
Following a lackluster three-year stint with Alfa Romeo, Raikkonen, 42, decided to retire from Formula 1 after the 2021 season.
The 2007 World Champion has stated categorically that he will not be going back, not even to see a race.
What I already know is that the one aspect of it that I enjoyed was driving, he told Bild. “I might never enter the paddock once more.
“My life was never about Formula 1. There were always things I considered to be more significant. That won’t alter at all.
I didn’t stop because I lacked the willpower, but rather because I had more worthwhile things to do than wait in airports and hotel rooms.
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F1 star Kimi Raikkonen claims that he switched to Ferrari because Lotus failed to pay him.
At the end of the season, KIMI Raikkonen admitted he made the decision to leave Lotus for Ferrari because “I haven’t collected my salary.”
The in-demand Raikkonen’s plans for 2014 were eventually confirmed last week when Ferrari revealed the Finn would return to Maranello to drive alongside Fernando Alonso. This follows months of frantic speculation.
The possibility of Raikkonen leaving Lotus for a rival team had seemed to increase after reports first surfaced several months ago that the team had fallen behind in their payments to him. Although Raikkonen has made no secret of the fact that he has enjoyed his time at Lotus since returning to F1 with them in 2012, the possibility of him leaving for a rival had appeared to increase.
Lotus was adamant that they could persuade Raikkonen to sign an extension if they could guarantee that they would be able to compete at the top of the field into the next season.
The revelation that the 2007 world champion had consented to rejoin Ferrari last week, however, seemed to imply that those assurances had not been offered in a timely manner.
Raikkonen explained his choice in public for the first time, directly attributing his planned departure to financial considerations.
“But the only factor in my leaving the team was financial. I am not receiving my pay.”
Raikkonen also made it apparent that the management of the team had been aware of what they needed to do to appease him. He was thought to be looking for both financial and technical assurances from Lotus.
It’s difficult to predict how things would have turned out in that scenario, but the transaction with Ferrari is now finalized, and I’m glad we were able to reach an agreement.
Toto Wolff, head of Mercedes motorsport, called Kimi Raikkonen’s departure from Ferrari at the end of this year a “hit” to everyone in Formula 1.
After five years at Maranello, Raikkonen is leaving the team to join Sauber for 2019, after his superiors chose to sign Charles Leclerc.
Taking the pole in Italy and winning in the United States, Raikkonen had a better season in 2018 than in previous seasons. He continues to be one of the most well-liked drivers on the grid.
Wolff believes that his absence from frontrunning equipment will hurt F1.
He has a strong personality. With social media and the ego spiraling out of control in this day and age, he is one of the very few people that stays loyal to himself.
He is authentic because he has his own values and upholds them. The supporters adore it. So it’s a loss for all of us that Kimi isn’t driving a Ferrari.
“But at least he isn’t entirely out of it. He is in Sauber, and it is unfortunate that we are somehow losing two incredible characters with Fernando [Alonso] leaving entirely and Kimi switching from Ferrari to Sauber. The pairing of Kimi and Ferrari was appealing.
Raikkonen’s move to Sauber is a step down in competition, but Wolff is confident that the 2007 world champion made the correct decision by deciding to continue in Formula 1.
Wolff said, “Kimi claims he is visiting to enjoy himself with Sauber, but the Sauber showed to be a best of the rest car.
Additionally, it’s only 40 minutes to home, allowing him to remain there. Why would Fred [Vasseur, team head] stop doing what he enjoys doing when they have a racing group that is coming together and a strong relationship with Ferrari?
We spent too much time debating whether he should quit Formula One since the car is no longer a contender. But since everyone is here to have fun and be happy, he has every right to pursue his passion of driving if it is something he truly enjoys.
After leaving Ferrari, Raikkonen said, “It’s not my decision.”
ASIAN PRESS (AP): Kimi Raikkonen was scarcely in the mood to discuss his impending departure from Ferrari.
When asked about the reasons for his resignation during a press conference prior to Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix, he reverted to his customary monosyllabic and casual attitude. This week, it was revealed that Ferrari will not extend the contract of the Finnish driver for 2019.
“This is what took place. I don’t get to make the choice, and “Thursday, Raikkonen stated. “This is what happened. We at least have a result.”
Charles Leclerc will be occupying his seat. The 20-year-old Monaco driver joins from Sauber, and Raikkonen is making a two-year move to Sauber.
The question of whether Raikkonen was content to join Sauber, where he began his Formula One career in 2001, was posed to him. He answered directly, his penetrating stare fixed on the future.
How come not? Raikkonen questioned the reporter for the news conference. “I want to go, so. Why do you make things so difficult?”
F1 champion Raikkonen, who won while driving for Ferrari, has achieved 20 victories and 100 career podiums.
In addition to his driving prowess, he has won a lot of people over with his detached and uninterested demeanor when discussing himself. Even as he responded to a question about his age with sarcasm, he seemed to be enjoying his part this time.
Next year, when Raikkonen drives for Sauber, he will be 39 years old, making him easily the oldest driver on the starting grid.
Despite his advanced age, when asked if he was still passionate about racing, he replied sternly, “No, I’m not, actually.”
A little less than two weeks ago, during the team’s home race at the Italian GP in Monza, Raikkonen was notified of Ferrari’s choice.
When he learned, he immediately contacted some old acquaintances at Sauber, and contract negotiations went smoothly.
He explained, “I certainly know people from the past and it started after that. This will probably be my last contract.” “There’s no doubt a good chance.”
Sebastian Vettel, a teammate at Ferrari, will miss his close friendship with Raikkonen.
The respect you have for each other as colleagues is the most crucial factor, according to four-time F1 champion Vettel. Naturally, Charles has a fantastic opportunity, but it makes me sad to learn that Kimi is no longer with us because we get along so well despite our differences.
In Formula One, Kimi Raikkonen took a vacation on this day.
News On this day in 2009, Kimi Raikkonen declared that he was taking a brief hiatus from Formula One to take a sabbatical following a challenging season. The team basically bought off Kimi’s contract in order to create place for Fernando Alonso, who would be joining Ferrari for the 2010 season. He had attempted to arrange a drive with McLaren, but negotiations broke down.
Why then did Kimi leave Ferrari while Felipe Massa stayed? Massa had, in fact, been the faster driver for the past few seasons. Additionally, he had missed the first half of 2009 due to an injury; Ferrari could hardly have dropped him off the back of that without coming out as absolutely callous.
Kimi competed in the WRC while on leave, and his best result came at the 2010 Rally Turkey. Even tried his hand at Nascar. After two years, he decided that he’d had enough of not being an F1 driver and joined Lotus.
Birthdays Philippe Adams (born 1969) was able to raise enough money to compete in two races for the ailing Lotus team in 1994. Although he lagged behind colleague Johnny Herbert in terms of speed, some of that was due to the fact that he didn’t fit well in the car. In Spa, he lost four laps after spinning out of the first race, and in Portugal, he came in 16th.
Andre Lotterer, a legend of sports cars and endurance racing, was born in 1981. He has won the WEC, two Super GT championships, three Le Mans victories, and one Formula Nippon championship (among other things). In 2002, he also served as a Jaguar test driver, but it wasn’t until 2014 that he made his Formula One debut at Spa, taking Kamui Kobayashi’s place for Caterham.
Lotterer made an immediate impression since he beat colleague Marcus Ericsson by a split second. His race, however, was cut short before he completed a lap due to an electrical issue.
The team wanted him to compete in the upcoming race in Monza because of his outstanding performance. But because Caterham too required funding, Roberto Mehri was forced to participate in FP1 with his vehicle. Lotterer declined the offer and returned to the WEC because he didn’t like the notion and wanted as much seat time in F1 as possible as a rookie.