Post F1 retirement, Kimi Raikkonen returns to motorsport as team principal

Retired F1 champion Kimi Raikkonen returns to the racing world as the team principal of the Kawasaki Racing Team in the Motocross World Championship. The Finn is dedicated to one of his oldest passions, which is motocross racing, and plans to contribute towards the success of the factory team.

Explaining his new seriously passionate job, Raikkonen said:

“It’s no secret that, for me, one of my great passions in life for many years has been motocross. But this team is not what you might call a hobby; it’s very serious, very focused and we aspire to be the best we possibly can.”

The 2007 F1 world champion has always been ardently passionate about the motocross world and explained that his new role to lead Kawasaki’s factory outfit is a serious affair. With an experience of more than 349 Grand Prix starts in F1, Raikkonen — aka the Iceman — carries his own experience to shape the new team.

Speaking about his new career, the Finn further elaborated and said:

“Now I have retired from racing I will be able to spend more time on this project; not on the daily issues but more from a strategic point of view using my experience of how teams work and what creates success on the world stage.”

Ferrari’s last world champion intends to focus on using his experience to create success with this motocross team on the world stage. Having previously owned a World Rally Championship team called Ice One Racing and Double R Racing team in the junior single-seater series, Kimi Raikkonen carries the experience of a race driver and team owner.

The Double R Racing team originally named Raikkonen Roberston Racing was started by the Finnish F1 champion and his team manager Steve Robertson. The team was successful in junior formula series such as the Euroformula Open championship, British F3, Formula 3 Euro series, and the FIA F3 championship. The team also fielded popular names from F1 including Bruno Senna, Marcus Ericsson, Felipe Nasr, Valtteri Bottas, Roberto Merhi and Antonio Giovinazzi.

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Kimi Raikkonen looking forward to his new role as team principal

Elated at his new role, Kimi Raikkonen expressed his delight in contributing to the success of the MXGP factory team. The Iceman's new role will entail managing the strategic side of the team and overlooking the overall management affairs.

Expressing his delight over his new role, Raikkonen said:

“Everyone including myself is delighted that Kawasaki has chosen us to be the Factory team. I know that the chance of success is always greater with direct factory support so this translates into a great opportunity for us as the new Kawasaki Racing Team in MXGP.”

Raikkonen has had a glorious career in F1 with five teams including Ferrari, Lotus, Sauber, McLaren and Alfa Romeo. His retirement from Formula 1 has made many speculate about his future projects, to which he has announced his latest venture.