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Kimi Raikkonen is an absolute legend of F1. The Finn initially made his name for his raw talent, but eventually attained superstardom because of his unique ways of approaching the sport, and life in general.
He didn't say much, and whenever he did, it was straight from the heart. The 2007 World Drivers' Champion's brutal honesty set him apart in a sport where everyone has to weigh their words carefully before saying anything.
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Throughout his career, there has been more than one occasion when "The Iceman" came up with an absolute gem of a quote. In this article, we rank some of the top quotes made by Kimi Raikkonen which served to solidify his iconic image amongst fans.
Ranking Kimi Raikkonen's best quotes in F1
#1 "Leave me alone, I know what I'm doing"
Arguably the most famous Kimi Raikkonen quote, this happened in Abu Dhabi in 2012 when he was leading the race for Lotus, a team which had not found itself in the lead of a race too often.
With Fernando Alonso chasing down the Finn in his Ferrari, Kimi's understandably nervous engineer kept keying up the team radio to update his driver about the situation.
Ultimately, having had enough of the messages, Raikkonen shouted back:
"Leave me alone, I know what I'm doing!"
He proved his point by winning the race.
#2 "I was taking a sh*t"
Expect everyone on the grid to be present when someone as legendary as Brazilian footballer Pele makes an appearance in the paddock. Not Kimi though.
On one such occasion, ahead of the 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix, Kimi Raikkonen was one of the more notable absentees from Pele's presentation. When questioned later by Martin Brundle regarding his absence, Raikkonen simply replied by saying:
"I was taking a sh*t"
#3 "It protects my head"
Trust the average Formula 1 driver to have a sentimental attachment to his equipment, especially his helmet. Sebastian Vettel was famous for turning up to every other race with a newly designed helmet during his Red Bull days. Lewis Hamilton sported a design similar to his idol Ayrton Senna, while Esteban Ocon based his headgear design on on Michael Schumacher's helmet.
Kimi Raikkonen, however, is a driver cut from a different cloth. The driver, when once asked by an interviewer about the importance that his crash helmet had for him, he simply replied in the most matter-of-fact way possible:
"It protects my head."
#4 "I don't care what happened to others"
During the 2012 Japanese Grand Prix weekend, Kimi Raikkonen, during his last Q3 attempt, messed up his run around the 130R bend and crashed. The incident forced many of the other runners to abort their final laps.
Among them was Fernando Alonso, who was in contention to win the title that season. The average F1 driver would be politically correct in this situation and apologize to drivers who had their laps ruined because of the yellow flag.
Not Kimi Raikkonen. When questioned if he had anything to say to the drivers whose laps got ruined because of his incident, Kimi Raikkonen replied:
"I spun, I don't care what happened to others."
it was yet another example of a driver who did not believe in being politically correct and said what was on his mind.
