Kimi Raikkonen explains how F1 has changed over his career

The most experienced F1 driver on the 2021 paddock, Kimi Raikkonen, explained how the sport of F1 has changed over his career. He added that the regulations must be respected and commented that the sport doesn't care about the opinions of the drivers.

The 42-year-old retired from Formula 1 with a record 352 starts, 21 victories and the 2007 world championship on his CV. Most importantly, he is still the last race winner and world champion in a scarlet Ferrari. When talking about the transition and leaving the sport, he said :

“What I already know – driving is the only thing I liked about it! I may never set foot in the paddock again. Formula 1 was never my life. There were always things that were more important to me. Nothing will change about that.”

The Finnish driver is known for his straightforward nature and his notoriously short interviews. He went on to say that even though the advent of social media has changed the sport, the sport in itself doesn't care about any individual's opinions:

“In 20 years, certain aspects have changed, for example, social media has arrived, but it is an aspect that involves the whole world, not just F1. We pilots are like mechanics, simple employees. F1 doesn't care about our opinion, whether or not we like the decisions that are made or the regulations that are adopted. There are regulations and they must be respected, like it or not.”

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"Will miss him a lot" : Fernando Alonso on Kimi Raikkonen

Alonso expressed happiness at having shared so many years with Raikkonen

Fernando Alonso, another veteran on the 2021 grid, said he will miss the F1 legend. The Spaniard revealed that the Iceman was "not what you see." Alonso explained that the cold persona generally attributed to the Finn is not the real Kimi Raikkonen, saying:

“I think he’s quite warm inside; maybe you need to see him outside of racing to see the real Kimi. We meet sometimes in the airports, outside the paddock, in restaurants… partying sometimes!”

Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen joined the sport at the same time, both debuting at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix. While Kimi Raikkonen became the 2007 world champion, the Spaniard won the 2005 and 2006 titles with Renault. They were also teammates for a solitary season with Ferrari in 2014.