Thank you, Raikkonen
talent, a hard-partying young sensation who delighted in setting the fastest lap. He is a superb judge of braking — both when attacking and defending — and while he seems to get bored when not fighting for the top step, his race-craft is still special.
For me, 2003 was The Most Raikkonen Year. It was his third F1 season, and in the first race, he qualified 15th in the Mclaren spare car. Yet here he was, finishing in third place, holding off the Ferrari of Michael Schumacher at his most bullish. Raikkonen lost the championship by two points, but he took it to the final race. In 2007, he played the scarlet saviour for Ferrari, taking the title by one point from Hamilton and Fernando Alonso.
And now he’s leaving again. This year, on the eve of the Italian Grand Prix, Ferrari told Raikkonen he will be replaced by Charles Leclerc. Raikkonen’s reaction? He took pole position at that race, and this weekend gave us a win so glorious it is clear he has much left in the tank. I hereby predict he will — unlikely as it sounds — even win with Sauber, the team he is going to and the team he started with. When on song, the years fall away.
A Raikkonen overtake does not look like a 39-year-old racer in action.
Thank you for the races, Kimi Raikkonen. For the quotes and the ice-cream and the winks and the glamour-shots and for the way you raised your arms after this victory, as a sunglass-clad superhero. Sebastian Vettel might be Ferrari’s number one driver, but the truly cool don’t need to be called top gun.