Kimi Raikkonen once bankrupted an entire F1 team with his phenomenal results on the race track

Kimi Raikkonen is loved by fans around the world for his championship-winning driving skills and also for his 'cold' responses over team radio.

However, not even the most ardent fans of the sport know about the time the Finn nearly bankrupted Lotus Racing due to his phenomenal results. Let's take a look.

In 2012, Raikkonen signed a contract with the Lotus F1 team and had a clause in his contract that stated he would not be paid until he delivered the team's sponsor payments, which were reportedly worth over $20 million. The sponsors didn't pay on time, and Raikkonen refused to drive until he was paid.

This resulted in Lotus facing financial difficulties as they were unable to pay their bills, including those owed to Raikkonen. The 'Iceman' also had a clause that stated that he would earn a bonus for every championship point he scored - and he scored 390 points in the two years he spent with the team, nearly bankrupting the British team.

Finnish journalist Heikki Kulta wrote about Kimi Raikkonen's tale with Lotus, saying:

“Raikkonen scored 390 points in two years with Lotus. Team boss Gérard Lopéz certainly did not expect such a result and the deal he had made to pay €50,000 per point almost led to bankruptcy, the points bonus alone guaranteeing Raikkonen €19.5 million.”

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Revisiting Kimi Raikkonen's iconic radio message

Kimi Raikkonen's iconic "Just leave me alone, I know what to do" radio message at the 2012 F1 Abu Dhabi GP is now over a decade old. The Finnish motorsports legend was heard on the radio to the Lotus F1 pit wall, telling his engineer to leave him alone - in what is now a classic Kimi moment.

Raikkonen inherited the lead in the race in Abu Dhabi after Lewis Hamilton's McLaren suffered an engine failure whilst in the lead. The Finn had to now merely manage his pace and tires and keep a charging Fernando Alonso behind.

The driver had, up till then, successfully held numerous legends of the sport and was definitely in control of the situation - as his race engineer sadly found out. His Lotus race engineer Julien Simon-Chautemps was constantly updating the Finn on his pace relative to Alonso's, leading to a rare show of emotion from Raikkonen. He said:

"Just leave me alone, I know what to do"

Kimi Raikkonen definitely knew what he was doing, as he went on to fetch his 19th career win. His epic drive also gave Lotus their first podium of the season, proving to the world that Raikkonen hadn't lost his immense racing ability.