Kimi Räikkönen is the Most Interesting Man in Formula 1 The Iceman doesn't care about politics—he just wants to race.
“Sometimes in Formula 1 there is politics, and the shit there is stupid,” Kimi Räikkönen says as we sit in the Lotus Formula 1 team's hospitality tent, sheltered from the drizzle that hangs over most of the Canadian Grand Prix weekend. “I was pretty happy to go and do something else.”
The politics Kimi refers to involve his former employer, Ferrari, who wanted to force him out after a 2009 season in which he finished sixth in the driver’s championship and was frequently accused of lacking motivation. It didn’t help matters that Räikkönen’s personal exploits had worn thin in Maranello.
“The Iceman”—he hails from Finland and drives with ice in his veins; the nickname was inevitable—has become famous for, as his team principal at Lotus, Eric Boullier, puts it “doing pretty much whatever he wants.” That sort of attitude doesn’t fly with the Italians. The problem for the Scuderia was that Räikkönen had a contract for 2010 (reported to be upward of $50 million) that would need to be bought out if he couldn’t find a subsequent ride in F1. He says he had “a few options from top teams,” but nothing materialized.
And so he happily went and did something else. The now 33-year-old driver spent two years in the World Rally Championship running limited schedules with backing from Citroën and Red Bull, spending one season with the French marque’s junior team, another managing his own operation. His best finish was a fifth in his debut season. Then, in early 2011, it was announced that he would compete in select rounds of NASCAR’s Camping World Truck Series with Kyle Busch Motorsports.
“I had no idea how it was going to be when I went [to NASCAR],” Räikkönen says. “It looks very simple when you watch on TV. You think these cars are built in a shed behind some farm somewhere, but the cars are built very nicely. The finish is impressive when you look closely. It’s not so simple. There’s quite a lot different and you have to have a lot of experience to get good at it.” Kimi competed in two races: one Truck Series event, where he finished 15th, and one Nationwide race, where he finished 27th.
“I really enjoyed the racing because it doesn’t matter if you’re first or 40th, you always find someone to race against,” he says. In addition to the wheel-to-wheel combat that he craves, Räikkönen says that he found the scene in the NASCAR paddock to be far mellower compared to the traveling circus that is Formula 1. He hopes to race here again one day.
His ability to jump from Formula 1 car to WRC racer to Truck Series ride to Nationwide stocker—oh, and we should mention he’s also raced powerboats (dressed as a gorilla), snowmobiles, motocross bikes, and probably dozens of other vehicles that few outside Räikkönen himself are aware of—is unique. The only men who come close to matching the Finn’s love of racing and his ability and willingness to pursue its wildly variant forms are IRL and NASCAR champion Tony Stewart and seven-time MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi, both of whom have been known to crisscross the world of motorsports, often competing under pseudonyms.
Alan Permane, Lotus’s trackside operations director, has become intimately familiar with the intricacies of Kimi’s abilities in the year and a half the driver has spent with the Enstone, England–based team. And despite the general consensus that Räikkönen simply has talent pouring out his ears, which allows him to jump from ride to ride and instantly go fast, Permane says there’s more to it than that.
“He’s very particular about how he likes his steering and the front of the car set up, and I think that allows him to feel very precisely what grip he’s got,” Permane says. “I suspect that allows him to jump between a Formula 1 car or a rally car or a snowmobile or a motocross bike or whatever he happens to be doing. It’s not just his talent for going quick, it’s his feeling for how much grip is available and what the tires are doing or whatever he’s driving is doing.”
“I cannot explain that I do this and that’s why it goes this way because I don’t think about that,” Räikkönen says, not the slightest bit amused by a question asking how it is, exactly, that he’s so unbelievably quick. “I just know that I want this kind of feeling, and if I get that I know it’s going to be better.”
His interest level waxes and wanes depending on the subject matter, his gaze turning in a number of directions. Lotus tells that one of the things it has done to accommodate its lead driver is minimize the media commitments he seemingly loathes. “I think he genuinely doesn’t like talking in public, he genuinely doesn’t like talking to the press,” Permane says. “Maybe I’d go so far as to say he’s shy, honestly.”
Shyness or no, it’s not difficult to understand why Räikkönen would have a dim view of this aspect of the sport. Each afternoon of the race weekend, Kimi takes a few minutes to answer questions from the media. The jostling begins the moment the team’s press officer gives the assembled crowd the green light. Middle-aged men, in the way that’s considered polite on continental Europe, elbow and shoulder one another in an effort to get their microphones closest to Räikkönen’s mouth—we imagine it’s a scene not unlike if Justin Bieber dropped by an all-girls boarding school. Kimi’s hands are planted firmly in his pockets, his eyes wandering even more than during our time together, and a smile doesn’t cross his face until the session is up and he can return to the team’s trailer. At the Canadian GP, a few journalists attempted to lob bonus questions while Räikkönen walked back to his cocoon, one even grabbing the man’s arm in an effort to get his attention.
“I don’t dislike [that side of the sport], but I want to be myself,” he says. “I think if you are happy with what you do then you will do better. If you try to be something you’re not then it will not work in the long run . . . I’m not here to try to please people, I’m here to do my best.”
And Lotus understands that. Neither Räikkönen nor the team would disclose what is and isn’t permitted in his contract—rallying, motocross training, spelunking, etc.—but Boullier says, “He knows what he can do and what he cannot do. I know the things he’s doing, he’s doing very carefully. The rest is his private life, and if you’re famous, good looking, and financially successful, you can enjoy your life.”
This has been the approach the team has taken in an effort to keep the Finn comfortable since he signed ahead of the 2012 season, even though Räikkönen broke his wrist racing a snowmobile before that year’s preseason testing had even begun. “Nothing is accepted if you get hurt, but you can get hurt falling off the stairs,” Kimi says. “I know that it’s risky, but . . . if you only think that you’re going to get hurt then you cannot do anything.”
At this point in the 2013 season, much of the talk surrounding Räikkönen has focused on which team he’ll drive for next year: Lotus or Red Bull. Pundits have debated the relative merits of Red Bull’s wages and Lotus’s ability to shelter its superstar from the media, but that largely misses the point. Kimi Räikkönen is a racing driver, and if his stint with Ferrari revealed anything about one of Formula 1’s greatest personalities, it’s that he’ll give a team everything he’s got to win a world championship—and then he’ll go do whatever he wants whenever he wants. “I always said I’m here because I like the racing,” he says. “And the day I don’t enjoy it anymore I will walk away.”
Unter all den Elementen, die geäußert wurden in Bezug auf die Rückkehr von Kimi Räikkönen zu Ferrari, gibt es einen speziellen. Das von einem eingefleischten Fan des Teams aus Maranello, Diamant Verkäufer in Senegal, bekannt, dass alle Menschen in der Koppel mit dem Namen Moko und gebunden an Iceman Bewunderung aus der Ferne, da er in der finnischen Circus am Steuer erschien 'bescheidenen Sauber.
"Vor einiger Zeit traf ich ihn und er sagte mir:" Moko, ich komme nach Hause! "- Sagte Heikki Kulta die Turun Sanomat - ich glaube, er und Alonso wird ein schönes Paar, natürlich vorausgesetzt, dass das Auto gut ist!" .
Dann sprechen über ihre erste Sitzung im Jahr 2007 fuhr er fort: "Ich war im Albert Park während des Rennens. An einem Punkt, den ich es kommen mit Jean Todt sah, begrüßte ich ihn und er kam zurück zu mir, gab ich ihm in den Reihen der Roten Armee willkommen und gab einem der vielen Kruzifixe um den Hals ihm zu sagen, dass die würde Glück bringen. Er nahm sie und lächelte mich an. An diesem Tag gewann er und ich weiß, dass das Kreuz hat es noch. Es ist ein Kerl wirklich echt, loyal, ein aufmerksamer Beobachter von ihrer Herkunft, in der Tat sehr verschieden von den anderen F1-Piloten. Ich erinnere mich, als er die Weltmeisterschaft in Brasilien gewonnen. Nach der Siegerehrung rief mich an und gab mir den Anzug, den er für das Rennen benutzt hatte. Es war ganz nass von Schweiß und Champagner. Ich dachte, es würde sich lohnen, um die Wäsche zu schicken, aber er hat mir geraten, es nicht zu tun, weil er eine Nachricht geschrieben hatte. Es war einer der schönsten Momente meines Lebens. "
Unter all den Elementen, die geäußert wurden in Bezug auf die Rückkehr von Kimi Räikkönen zu Ferrari, gibt es einen speziellen. Das von einem eingefleischten Fan des Teams aus Maranello, Diamant Verkäufer in Senegal, bekannt, dass alle Menschen in der Koppel mit dem Namen Moko und gebunden an Iceman Bewunderung aus der Ferne, da er in der finnischen Circus am Steuer erschien 'bescheidenen Sauber.
"Vor einiger Zeit traf ich ihn und er sagte mir:" Moko, ich komme nach Hause! "- Sagte Heikki Kulta die Turun Sanomat - ich glaube, er und Alonso wird ein schönes Paar, natürlich vorausgesetzt, dass das Auto gut ist!" .
Dann sprechen über ihre erste Sitzung im Jahr 2007 fuhr er fort: "Ich war im Albert Park während des Rennens. An einem Punkt, den ich es kommen mit Jean Todt sah, begrüßte ich ihn und er kam zurück zu mir, gab ich ihm in den Reihen der Roten Armee willkommen und gab einem der vielen Kruzifixe um den Hals ihm zu sagen, dass die würde Glück bringen. Er nahm sie und lächelte mich an. An diesem Tag gewann er und ich weiß, dass das Kreuz hat es noch. Es ist ein Kerl wirklich echt, loyal, ein aufmerksamer Beobachter von ihrer Herkunft, in der Tat sehr verschieden von den anderen F1-Piloten. Ich erinnere mich, als er die Weltmeisterschaft in Brasilien gewonnen. Nach der Siegerehrung rief mich an und gab mir den Anzug, den er für das Rennen benutzt hatte. Es war ganz nass von Schweiß und Champagner. Ich dachte, es würde sich lohnen, um die Wäsche zu schicken, aber er hat mir geraten, es nicht zu tun, weil er eine Nachricht geschrieben hatte. Es war einer der schönsten Momente meines Lebens. "
Find das toll :D Das er das Kruzifix geschenk bekommen hat und er dafür den Rennanzug^^
Alonso? I couldn´t care less what that man thinks.
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Hallo an alle Kimi´s Fans. Ich wusste nicht wohin ich es posten soll. Also habe ich es mal hier hin gepostet. Nun ist Kimi Offizielle Internetseite in Rot beziehungsweise in ein neuen Design :) http://www.kimiraikkonen.com/
Ja, grooooße Überraschung. Mir tut es für das Team leid, dass es so den Bach runter geht, aber leider war das ja schon abzusehen. So langsam bin selbst ich froh, dass Kimi von Lotus weg ist und mit den ganzen Problemen nichts mehr zu tun hat!
Alonso? I couldn´t care less what that man thinks.
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Na hoffen wir mal, das Lotus überhaupt in Australien an den Start geht. Ich glaube das erst,wenn die Autos in der Startaufstellung stehen,leider. Da sieht man, das die ganze Zeit schon mehr im Busch war, als was wir bisher erfahren haben; macht den Wechsel von Kimi auch nur verständlicher.
Zitat von lusi im Beitrag #52Na hoffen wir mal, das Lotus überhaupt in Australien an den Start geht. Ich glaube das erst,wenn die Autos in der Startaufstellung stehen,leider. Da sieht man, das die ganze Zeit schon mehr im Busch war, als was wir bisher erfahren haben; macht den Wechsel von Kimi auch nur verständlicher.
Eben, irgendein Vorstandsmitglied (oder so ähnlich) von Genii Capital ist ja auch zurückgetreten und wurde ersetzt, da scheint wirklich einiges schief zu laufen im Moment. Gut das Kimi davon nicht mehr betroffen ist, ich hoffe nur, er bekommt sein Geld irgendwann noch...
Alonso? I couldn´t care less what that man thinks.
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Lotus-Zukunft mittelfristig gesichert?
von Sven Haidinger
08. Januar 2014 - 13:17 Uhr
Nach den zahlreichen Negativ-Schlagzeilen rund um Lotus dürfte Genii Capital jetzt gegensteuern und mehr Geld für die Truppe aus Enstone locker machen
Vollbremsung: Wie wirken sich die Einschränkungen bei Lotus auf 2014 aus?
(Motorsport-Total.com) - Lotus kam in den vergangenen Wochen und Monaten aus den Negativ-Schlagzeilen nicht heraus. Während der Saison offenbarte Kimi Räikkönen die enormen Finanzsorgen der Truppe aus Enstone einer breiteren Öffentlichkeit, dann entpuppte sich der Einstieg von "Investor" Quantum als Seifenblase. Und Anfang des neuen Jahres gab Lotus bekannt, das neue Auto "wahrscheinlich" erst beim zweiten Wintertest 2014 einzusetzen und daher auf mindestens vier Testtage zu verzichten - außerdem verlässt Geschäftsführer Patrick Louis das Team.
Kein Wunder, wenn sich Lotus-Fans Sorgen machen und befürchten, dass das Team 2014 - wenn überhaupt - nur noch zu den Nebendarstellern gehören wird. Doch nun berichtet 'f1i.com', dass zumindest die mittelfristige Zukunft gesichert sein soll. Der Finanzdienstleister Genii Capital, der als Mehrheitseigentümer fungiert, soll demnach die Zuschüsse für Lotus erhöht haben.
Bereits in den vergangenen Jahren sah sich Genii Capital dazu gezwungen, den jährlichen Schuldenberg des Lotus-Teams mit Sonderzuschüssen abzufedern. Hoffnung für das Team, das 2014 auch in den Genuss von Pastor Maldonados PDVSA-Millionen kommt - auch wenn dies nur ein Tropfen auf den heißen Stein ist -, bietet auch die Bestellung des neuen Geschäftsführers, der Louis nachfolgt.
Es handelt sich um Mathew Carter, der dem Lager von Andrew Ruhan - Teilhaber des Teams - zuzurechnen ist. Das könnte bedeuten, dass dieser sein Engagement in Enstone erhöht und somit das Team auf stabileren Beinen stehen wird.
ZitatVon Lotus nicht bezahlt: Valsecchi wartet auf "Kellner-Gage" Ex-GP2-Champion Davide Valsecchi ist ebenfalls ein Opfer der Lotus-Finanzkrise, verrät aber, dass er 2013 beinahe Romain Grosjean ersetzt hätte
Alonso? I couldn´t care less what that man thinks.
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Zitat von Jalumi im Beitrag #55Es wir immer toller mit Lotus.
ZitatVon Lotus nicht bezahlt: Valsecchi wartet auf "Kellner-Gage" Ex-GP2-Champion Davide Valsecchi ist ebenfalls ein Opfer der Lotus-Finanzkrise, verrät aber, dass er 2013 beinahe Romain Grosjean ersetzt hätte
Oh Mann, er tat mir ja damals schon leid. Als Lotus lieber Heikki fahren ließ, anstatt ihn. Obwohl das ja der Grund ist warum Davide überhaupt Testfahrer ist. Er ist dafür da, wenn jemand von den Fahren bei Lotus ausfällt. Aber dass auch er nicht bezahlt worden ist, ist schon ein starkes Stück. Frag mich langsam ob überhaupt irgendwer dort sein volles Gehalt bekommen hat. Kein Wunder dass so viel Personal von Lotus weggegangen ist. Wie heisst es doch so schön: "Die Ratten verlassen das sinkende Schiff"
Das ist denke ich schon älter. Aber das Interview habe ich noch nie gelesen und die Bilder noch nie gesehen. Kimi spricht über sein Bett!
ZitatWorld champion Kimi Räikkönen, The Iceman, sleeps tight no matter what!
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Rumor tells that before his Australian debut in 2001, Kimi had fallen asleep on a massage table an hour before the start. When he was asked to get ready for work, all he wanted to do was to sleep for five more minutes.
Nowadays Kimi is much more particular about the kind of a bed he wants for himself. "In my opinion, a good bed improves your sleep quality; it doesn't inflict any sleep-related pain. There is a big difference between a good and a bad bed", says Räikkönen.
"A good bed is not like a couch where you can sink in. When you have slept in a good quality bed you simply know it's right. I've had a bed from Unikulma since my first season in 2001. After that I haven't even considered any other manufacturer when buying a bed."
"It's completely different to sleep in a good bed - especially when I've had all sorts of back problems. You can really tell the difference between sleeping at home and in a hotel. At home my bed is a hundred times better!"
png2.png - Bild entfernt (keine Rechte)
Even though Räikkönen says he is still able to fall asleep easily when he is tired, this statement comes with a caveat.
"I'm still able to fall asleep when traveling although not as easily as when I was younger. The thing is that I like these Unikulma beds. I have these beds both in Switzerland and in Finland. When I'm away for competitions, the beds are not that good."
" I can assure you that I'm completely sold and there's no need to consider other options. One can say all sorts of things about beds but in the end only you can tell the difference between them. There is no need for further analyzes. It is easy to tell a difference between a bed which is good and a bed which is not that good."
"I like an adjustable bed with a massage function and in my opinion it's wise to invest in a good bed. There are all kinds of beds on the market but the most important thing is that you wake up well rested and without back pain. A good bed does not cause pain. It pays itself back by contributing to your well-being.
"I don't have any reason to resort to sales speeches. You know soon enough what kind of bed you own", Räikkönen says while yawning heavily. Even the thought of his own bed makes him immediately tired.
ZitatRaikkonen making Vettel "work for his money", says Allison
By: Valentin Khorounzhiy, Editorial Assistant
Ferrari's technical director James Allison reckons Kimi Raikkonen is a bigger challenge for teammate Sebastian Vettel than the points gap between them suggests.
Vettel ended the season well clear of Raikkonen in the standings, scoring almost twice the points of his Finnish teammate and securing all three of the team's 2015 wins.
But Allison suggested Raikkonen had actually pushed Vettel closer throughout the season than the results suggested.
"There have been a number of occasions where he has made Sebastian sweat and made him have to stretch himself to keep his teammate at bay," Allison told the BBC.
Allison highlighted Raikkonen's season-best finish of second in Bahrain in particular, as well as the Finn's pace at Silverstone - where he outqualified Vettel, but finished the race just eighth in mixed conditions.
"[At Silverstone], Sebastian was utterly candid that he couldn't live with Kimi at various sections of the track in the race, he was not as quick," Allison pointed out.
"But at other times in the year a few errors have crept in and [Raikkonen] has had some real misfortune, where our reliability has dropped the ball for him.
"But what we have seen through the season, and latterly particularly, is Kimi really making Sebastian work for his money."
The Finn is under contract with Ferrari until the end of the 2016 season.
Mark Arnall, right, has worked with Kimi Raikkonen for 14 years and even takes care of the Finnish driver's gloves.Pictures / AP
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You would think that a person in Formula 1 who has worked at more races than most of the drivers on today's grid, who has been closely involved with three top-line winning F1 teams and two world champions, a person who is on television, front and centre in the garage at every F1GP, would have a name known to millions of fans.
But not so.
Mark Arnall is not a mechanic nor an engineer, certainly not a driver or a "profiling" guest vying to get in front of the camera.
Arnall is Kimi Raikkonen's personal trainer, dietician, massage therapist, personal assistant, nutritionist, minder, wardrobe assistant, confidant and close friend. He also runs Raikkonen's racing life and is attached hip and shoulder to him at any Grand Prix.
Like many driver trainers, Arnall came into Formula 1 almost by accident.
"I was working at the University of Surrey and alongside running a sports injuries clinic and training athletes I also taught climbing and skiing," he tells me over the phone from Abu Dhabi, just after the last GP.
"A guy came in for a climbing lesson one day who worked for McLaren. He was looking for someone to do all the sports therapy work with the McLaren F1 drivers and asked if I'd be interested and it went from there.
"In all honesty I had no real interest at the time in F1, never watched it and here I am 18 years later!"
Arnall begin working with Mika Hakkinen before concentrating on Raikkonen, moving with the Finn across teams and disciplines including rally and Nascar before returning to F1 and Ferrari.
After 14 years working together, Arnall and Raikkonen know how to work with each other and also give each other enough space.
"For me he's great to work with ... what you see is what you get ... zero bullshit! Straight, honest to the core and a great sense of humour (that very few people really get to see)."
As Raikkonen's career has changed, so too have the demands on a driver over the years.
"Formula 1, in all honesty has become less physical," says the 43-year-old.
"At the start of a race now the cars are full of fuel so are around three to five seconds slower than in qualifying. We also have less downforce so cornering speeds are lower. There is more emphasis now on making the driver as light as possible.
"Muscle weighs four times as much as fat, because of this we focus more on cardio work, endurance, HIIT (high intensity interval work) functional and corrective work and less on pure strength work."
Primary goal is to keep the driver in one piece, he says.
A driver's diet has also slowly adapted. "Thankfully Kimi eats a healthy diet. We don't use a stupid number of supplements as I prefer to get good nutrition through the food," Arnall says.
But an important aspect of keeping Raikkonen track-ready is hydration.
"Fascia (connective tissue in the body) reacts very well to being fully hydrated and causes lots of problems when it's not. So I focus on making sure Kimi is well hydrated at all times," says Arnall.
"This is obviously more challenging in hotter or more humid environments but the advantage of working with someone that long is you know how their body works."
On race days, as the Ferrari sits in the garage, waiting for Raikkonen to take to the track, Arnall will be standing alongside. Just what is he doing at that point?
"I have the drinks bottle for the driver, cloth and cleaner for the visor, face towels, pockets full of everything I think I might need for the driver while he's in the car."
Outside of the garage the job Arnall does now has expanded from the early days of "just" being the masseur. "At the track it's more making sure Kimi only has to focus on driving the car. "I have a massage couch that follows me around the world as well as a full medical kit," he says.
"I look after all the team kit, helmets, overalls, gloves etc. Kimi prefers to keep using gloves and boots until they fall apart so I carry these with me in my carry-on luggage everywhere so they don't go missing, get given away etc."
Arnall also works with the marketing team to make sure Raikkonen is "in the right place at the right time". "I also help make arrangements for friends and family who come to the races in terms of passes, pick-ups etc so Kimi doesn't have to worry about it.
"I also book the majority of Kimi's travel to and from races and work with the hotels in advance to make sure we have everything we need when we arrive."
So, there must be downsides to the job?
"When the car is pants it can make the year drag a bit. But I can honestly say that the vast majority of my life in F1 has been really positive, even when the car isn't as competitive as you would want!
"So I'm lucky to do something I really enjoy! Life is what you make of it, can't see the point of being negative ... If you don't like what you do you should try and change it."
Like all people in F1, life is a constant travelogue, non-stop for more than eight months of the year, so where is home?
"It's 38,000 feet."
That nomadic, often singular lifestyle, can crush many a relationship.
"I have a girlfriend. She runs her own hotel consultancy company and that allows her to travel to quite a few of the races with me which keeps our relationship alive. F1 is a killer in that department.
"We've worked hard to create a life situation that allows us to still manage to spend a lot of time together."
The final word goes to Arnall after I asked him if there was anything he would like to comment on. "To quote Kimi Raikkonen, 'No'."
Karriere
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Besonders im Winter!!
