Why F1 still cares about an Iceman who hardly seems to care about anything?

Ok Kimi, nice performance today; you ended up far higher than from where you began, what you feel?

"Pretty normal!"

Monosyllabics-monosyllabics everywhere, not a sentence to hear!

A few days ago, inside the first week of December, Formula 1 held its yearly gala at St. Petersburg, in Russia. A yearly ritual that facilitates drivers from various verticals across motor-sports, the key participants from the 2018 Formula 1 here were Lewis Hamilton, the 2018 world champion and the two Ferrari drivers, Sebastian Vettel, and Sauber-bound Kimi Raikkonen.

Amid flashy lights, glitzy automobile, tons of paparazzi, and therefore, lots of fanfare, the F1 gala was a bit of fun as well as a bit of showstopping media event.

While Lewis Hamilton was dashing by his usually stylish standards, teaming up an elegant jacket alongside green trousers, Sebastian Vettel, sporting a new mustache, hitherto less-seen in F1 came and went being the pleasant presence he usually is.

Interestingly, however, the icing on the cake belonged to Formula 1's Iceman, Kimi Raikkonen.

Kimi was in his elements, albeit being inebriated!

The best part of the gala, it ought to be said, was the sight of Kimi Raikkonen stepping on the stage to accept his award, having come third on the driver's standings. Not that he seemed to care much about the award- if it could be said- with his Pirelli decoration in lieu of having recorded the fastest ever F1 lap record (at Monza, 2018) becoming a toy for daughter Rianna as per Instagram updates, Raikkonen attracted the attention of everyone.

Absolutely inebriated from the very moment that Raikkonen-dressed in a formal suit with familiar blond hair- walked on the stage to the very moment he dispersed, not before giving multiple-hugs to his former Ferrari teammate, going as far as nearly dropping a friendly peck on his the German's cheeks, Raikkonen was the darling of the media.

Media footage, for about twenty seconds or so, showed Kimi walking as if there were a spring in every step of his, the shenanigan-dreading dude nowhere to be seen, in front of the sighting of a bloke distinguished by a carefree gait.

It reminded one of a pure hedonist, for a change, instead of a disinterested man that Raikkonen usually is.

And implicit in all that Kimi did that evening- which is, having had one drink too many, posing for pictures, signing autographs, being his chilled-out self; holding a cigar, as he murmured something barely understandable to Vettel in the audience as they enjoyed their company with Hamilton on stage- wasn't critiqued, neither polarised in terms of public opinion and was, in fact, absolutely enjoyed by everyone.

You got the feeling that regardless of being viewed by whosoever, whether fans or critics, whosoever saw the footage- now popular on social media as 'Drunk Kimi'- no one seemed to have had any problems with Kimi.

Which is where we are left to wonder about something.

Wouldn't most other drivers, in an age of PR-regimented dialogues and interactions; one that sides with personalities over individualities been a bit embarrassed, even as nothing major happened apart from Kimi birthing another 'joy-ride' at the back of his F1 gala appearance?

Are we sure that there would've been no social media posts about some drivers- careful about how they conduct themselves especially during such events- that might have had something to do with owning up about 'last night?'

Why is Kimi Raikkonen- not the best speaker around, perhaps not the most hospitable personality anywhere in any paddock, certainly not the most enterprising responder to the media- not subjected to intense scrutiny and instead, decorated with memes that uphold and celebrate his 'Iceman' quotient?

The most successful man on the current grid, Lewis, is often trolled by a circuit of fans who offer a rather harsh assessment of the Briton's stand on environmental issues. When Lewis went 'plastic cleaning' toward the mid-season, some saw his concern for his environs as a garb of pretense.

The F1 universe burst into a polarising debate about Max's post-Brazil stunt on Ocon. Some sided with it, the others engaged in a social-media takedown condemning an upset Verstappen for being physical with the Frenchman.

Nico Hulkenberg is hardly talked about.

His compatriot, another Nico, a world champion in fact, still manages to attract the whipping cane by a pantheon of fans who can't stand the 'Brittany' in him. In a lighter vein, Spears still lives on because the Britanny in Nico Rosberg is remembered rather unwittingly- isn't it?

To some fans, the 2016 season, actually panned out the way it did at the back of efforts to 'assist' Rosberg in the end.

Why then is the oldest man on the Formula 1 grid, someone who's miles apart from the alacrity of the youth, someone who couldn't care less about media, that part of F1's circus he's often likened to 'sh*t' attributed rather smooth treatment even when he appears absolutely 'hammered?'

Having said all the above, could the fact that Kimi Raikkonen is, well, unapologetically, Kimi Raikkonen, and not some borrowed avatar or alter-ego, hold an answer?

Earlier this year, Raikkonen, who was, for the better part of Ferrari's fandom a 'second-rate' driver, set the fastest lap in the history of the sport. Where other drivers go really fast, Kimi produced a ballsy qualifying drive, blazing past a classic race-track checkered by peculiar long straights at a smashing 1:19:119.

In so doing, he earned a simple radio call from his team, "Kimi, you are on pole." A simple reply followed, thereafter, "Yeah, thank you!"

And that was that.

No wild celebrations. No garrulous talks were exchanged of the kinds like, "You're the man Kimi," nor was there a wildly celebratory message. This was when the fastest lap in over six and a half decades of the sport was achieved.

Raikkonen, unmoved by his feat would manage only a second on race-day but not before sending the Tifosi at Monza 'wild', as David Croft 'Crofty' of Sky put it. In his dogged duel with Hamilton, he'd bow out to the Mercedes driver, the man with the midhas touch.

But one learned that there wasn't much thrill in doubting Kimi, who'd prove his substance soon thereafter at the Circuit of the Americas.

Starting from second, as a result of a grid penalty handed to teammate, Vettel, who by the start of the United States Grand Prix was hardly in a position to challenge Hamilton realistically (for the title), Raikkonen made a sensational move within seconds of the lights going green.

He'd dive into the inside of Lewis to make up a place on the opening lap and wouldn't give up his track position. Some brilliant defending later on from Max and Lewis would ensure that the laconic Finn would finally stand on top of the podium, a place he last stood on at the 2013 Australian GP.

Having said that, in his final moments of the 2018 campaign, Kimi did manage to convince his detractors that he still has 'it'; what it takes to triumph at the highest level of Grand Prix racing.

When your team is happy with your achievement, it's all normal. But when your contemporaries in the sport, albeit a few years younger- such as Hamilton- laud your effort, you know you've pulled off something special.

Having said that, even as the season-ender at the sensational Yas Marina saw Raikkonen failing to progress beyond the lap that coincides with that of his car's number- he had already managed 12 overall podiums, to demonstrate that was here to stay.

Then, in being Sauber-bound, a move questioned by some at the time it happened, immediately post Monza, might have offered a reasonable explanation to his doubters who may have been silently convinced to shut it up.

And maybe at the end of it all, it's this sheer simplicity and uncomplicatedness about Formula 1's Iceman, one who turns the heat in his own special way that reaffirms the answer that, if you still have the passion to do what you like to do, to hell with the world- isn't it?

So maybe it's Kimi's unfettered response in accepting what others think of him and that familiar penchant for following his own heart is what endears him to millions around the globe.

And maybe it all boils down to the man's absolute comfort at being who he is and in being comfortable in his own skin that appeals to all the way it did to all that boozy night at St. Petersburg when Raikkonen uncharacteristically so, spent a few more smiles, than normal that endeared him to those who didn't ridicule him into being a drunk turd. They were probably just happy at seeing an individual among the crowd, a person beyond the veil of a personality of the many frolicking around.

Isn't it?

Edited by Sundaresh Kumar