Kimi Raikkonen reveals secret he didn’t share with his team

Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen retired from Formula 1 at the end of 2021, whilst racing for Alfa Romeo.

2007 Formula 1 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen was certainly a fan favourite when racing in the pinnacle of single-seater motorsport, mostly due to his unique personality.

The famous Finn was very much his own person who often did what he wanted to do, as proven at the 2006 Monaco Grand Prix.

After retiring in Monaco, Raikkonen famously walked through the famous tunnel and went straight to his yacht, rather than back to the pits.

He was seen relaxing on his yacht with his friends whilst the racing was still going on, something which will always be a memorable moment in modern F1 history.

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Away from the circuit, Raikkonen also got up to things he probably shouldn’t have done, with him being no stranger to a nightclub.

Raikkonen famously carried an inflatable dolphin in a nightclub, before being seen passed out on the street on top of the inflatable.

He also competed in a powerboat race with his friends, whilst wearing a comical gorilla costume.

If that wasn’t enough, he even competed in a snowmobile race once, but under the name of ex-F1 driver James Hunt.

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Raikkonen was certainly unique, which is arguably what made him so popular.

He now lives in Switzerland with his wife and kids, who have already taken up go-karting.

It’s seemingly not just karting which they’ve been introduced to though, with Raikkonen revealing that they have a small motocross track at their home.

The Finn, who is currently the team principal of KRT team in the World Motocross Championship, revealed that he used to go riding himself during his F1 career, without informing his team.

“Sometimes I went riding in small club races but it was just for fun,” Raikkonen told Kawasaki.

“I have a small track at home here with the kids.”

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Raikkonen insists that he didn’t race at a “high level”, but that to him it was part of his “fitness programme”.

“I did not race at a high level and I felt it was part of my fitness programme,” Raikkonen said.

“I don’t know what any of my teams thought about it as I never mentioned it to them!”