Kimi Raikkonen’s wife opens up on his Formula 1 retirement

Kimi Raikkonen retired from F1 at the end of 2021 after making 349 GP starts at the pinnacle of motorsport.

Kimi Raikkonen’s life has certainly changed since retiring from Formula 1 at the end of 2021, with the Finnish driver’s wife having revealed how good the 2007 World Champion has been at doing things with their kids.

Kimi and Minttu Raikkonen are currently expecting their third child, something which Minttu admits wouldn’t be the case had the ex-Ferrari driver not retired from F1, due to how hectic the schedule was.

Travelling across the globe for the vast majority of the year certainly isn’t ideal for a young family, with Sebastian Vettel having retired at the end of 2022 to spend more time with his family.

Raikkonen certainly did it all in F1, with him having claimed race wins, a title and the record for most race starts, until Fernando Alonso broke it last season.

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He left F1 in order to enjoy some more quality family time, with his only race appearances since retiring having come over in the United States, where he’s competed in two NASCAR races.

Other than that, life has been quiet for the famous Finn, with his kids certainly benefitting from having their father around more often.

“We have a boy and a girl, so I thought that was perfect – it is. But then my husband retired and he was home more,” Minttu told Vogue.

“I wouldn’t be here, pregnant with my third child, if he was still driving.

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“I love that he likes to do things with the kids – he’s very good at that. It’s definitely different now that there are two parents at home.”

Whilst Kimi has largely stopped racing, the Raikkonen name is certainly living strong in the motorsport world, with eight-year-old son Robin already being a race winner in go-karts.

Clips of Robin karting have been seen on social media in recent months, with him certainly looking like a driver to watch for the future.

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His five-year-old daughter Rianna is also supposedly “interested” in racing but is yet to embark on her own motorsport journey.

“Our son is now driving go-karts, so he’s definitely interested,” Minttu stated.

“Our daughter is also already driving, but not racing yet. So the interest is there. I will support them in whatever they want to do.”