Former Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen has spoken of his relationship with Fernando Alonso, calling their chemistry “odd.”
Raikkonen partnered the Spaniard in 2014 having joined the team from Lotus. He had secured a dream move back to the team with which he won his Championship in 2007 after a horrid experience with the British team in 2013, but he was thrashed by Alonso.
Alonso out-qualified Raikkonen 16-3 over the 19 races, and ended the Championship over 100 points clear of the Finn in what would turn out to be his fifth and final year with the Scuderia.
As such, Raikkonen recognises the sheer quality that Alonso possesses, but admits that they had a strange relationship.
“I think he’s always been very good. As a team-mate, I’m kind of certain that there was something odd happening, like between us,” he told the Beyond the Grid Podcast.
READ: Vasseur was open to Raikkonen contract talks
The 42-year-old concedes that he endured a torrid 2014, but sees the positives of having a fast team-mate that persistently challenges him.
“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. 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.
Unsurprisingly, Raikkonen is not too interested in the statistical side of Formula 1, placing more emphasis on purely being quick on Sunday.
“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 team-mate in qualifying. To me, the race has always been the important part of the weekend.”
Alonso returned to F1 with Alpine in 2021, and Raikkonen enjoyed having the two-time World Champion back on the grid.
“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.”
The Finn went on to praise his former team-mate’s race-craft, and indicates that there are few complications within the team as he has found with others.
“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,” he explained.
Raikkonen retired from F1 at the end of 2021 following 19 years in the sport over two spells.
He won six races en route to his title in 2007 and finished 16th in the Championship in his final season last year.
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