After departing from Formula 1 at the conclusion of the 2009 season and coming back two years later, Kimi Raikkonen has quit the sport once more. The Finn feels that this time is considerably different from the last.
Kimi Raikkonen has described why this time around, as he is leaving Formula 1, it seems so different from prior times.
Raikkonen, who had a contract with Ferrari to compete in 2010, elected to leave Formula One at the end of the 2009 season in order to explore rallying and other motorsport disciplines despite having a contract to compete in 2010.
Raikkonen returns to the grid with Lotus after a two-year absence. He competed for Ferrari again between 2014 and 2018, and then he spent the final three years of his Formula One career with Alfa Romeo.
At the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where he took part in his final race, Raikkonen acknowledged that his decision to leave Formula One this year is very different from his previous exit.
According to Raikkonen, “I think [there are] an] limitless amount of [differences].”
“I have a family, so I have good cause to be at home. This is really different in a lot of ways. Of course, the situation is different. I’m in a different stage of my life right now.”
In This Article...
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.
Kimi Raikkonen says he chose Alfa Romeo in order to be nearer to his family.
The “Iceman” was interviewed by Formula One. Kimi responded when asked why he selected Alfa after leaving Ferrari, “It’s very helpful (to be closer to home). You don’t need to leave the country when you need to travel to do tasks for the team. You arrive there in 40 minutes, complete your tasks, and depart in the early afternoon to return. You occasionally save a few hours, but over the course of a year, it adds up.”
At his age, Raikkonen must strike a balance between his personal life with his family and his racing career. Kimi achieved this by joining Alfa Romeo. Because he is nearer to his family, he can spend a lot of time with them while also taking use of his remaining F1 time.
Last year, Kimi’s maiden F1 season with Alfa Romeo was a tale of two halves. Kimi won people over by scoring 31 points in the season’s first 12 races while driving a subpar Alfa. Kimi, though, scored just 12 points in his final 9 races. These 12 points were earned from finishing fourth in Brazil.
Kimi will want to replicate his performance from the first half of the season. Hopefully, he’ll give the audience a few more memorable press conference and team radio moments. People, enjoy this dude while you still can. A character like him is undoubtedly unique.
End of 2021 marks Kimi Raikkonen’s departure from Formula One.
The time has come, so grab your ice cream and get ready with your best one-liners: Kimi Raikkonen has declared his intention to leave Formula 1 at the conclusion of the current campaign.
The 2007 world champion announced today that he will compete for Alfa Romeo in his final race of the Formula One season in Abu Dhabi.
Kimi had already departed Formula 1; towards the end of 2009, he left Ferrari to pursue rallying and try his hand at NASCAR. In 2012, he returned to the sport to compete for Lotus. The 41-year-old Finnish racer won’t be returning this season, though.
Raikkonen posted on Instagram, “This is it.” “This is going to be my final year in Formula 1.” I made this choice throughout the past winter. After this season, it was not an easy choice to make, but it is now time for something new.
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.
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.
Kimi left Ferrari when?
After driving in Formula One for nine seasons, he took a break from the sport to compete in the World Rally Championship in 2010 and 2011. He then came back to drive in Formula One for another ten seasons from 2012 until 2021. He is well recognized for having a reclusive demeanor and being reluctant to engage in public relations activities.
What happened to Kimi after Ferrari?
Raikkonen’s fourth victory at Spa-Francorchamps was the only race victory for Ferrari with the F60 in 2009.
However, it wasn’t enough to guarantee him a spot on the team. Despite being under contract through 2010, Fernando Alonso came in to replace Raikkonen after the Finnish driver was purchased out of his agreement.
He participated in the 2010 World Rally Championship for Citroen after retiring from the competition. The next year, he participated in a portion of the rallying season and had a few NASCAR appearances, though not at the highest level.
What caused Ferrari to fire Kimi?
“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.” Raikkonen called it quits on his Formula 1 career after the 2021 season, the 42-year-old leaving following a dismal three-year stay with Alfa Romeo