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2007 F1 world champion Kimi Raikkonen, also commonly known as 'The Iceman', competed in the sport for two decades. He managed to strike up quite a fan following during this time.
The former Ferrari driver won over 20 races in F1. However, the Finn became increasingly popular when it became apparent that he had no interest in anything other than racing. His candid and rather unenthusiastic responses during interviews and media activities made it clear that he did not have the patience to engage in PR activities.
Additionally, his startling comments to the team over the car radio made for quite entertaining quotes and memes for the fans.
As reported by The New York Times in 2013, Raikkonen made his feelings about the media and fans very clear when he emphasized that he was not there to "please people."
“I’m not here to please people. I’m here to do my own thing and be happy and hopefully get some good results. That’s the most important thing.”
Marc Priestley is a former mechanic who worked with the Finnish driver and currently works as an analyst with Sky Sports. He went on to reveal that the only thing Kimi Raikkonen genuinely liked about F1 was racing.
Priestley emphasized that he in fact absolutely "dislikes" every aspect of F1 outside of racing.
“It’s ironic almost that the thing he hates most, which is the media and the PR duties, is the thing he’s become most popular for. One thing I can guarantee is that none of that has been put on. He was always very passionate about racing the car, but that’s the only thing he was passionate about in Formula One. I would go as far as to say that he really dislikes every other part of Formula One.”
In 2017, a fan survey ranked Kimi Raikkonen as the third most popular driver in F1. He was only behind seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and two-time world champion Fernando Alonso.
Sebastian Vettel particularly impressed by Kimi Raikkonen's driving style
Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel believes that Kimi Raikkonen is a particularly skilled racer with a "natural" ability to extract the potential of the car.
Speaking on the Beyond the Grid podcast, the German said:
"If there was a discipline of switching cars every day, after 10 days, Kimi will be lapping everyone else. Just because he's a natural. It doesn't take time [for Kimi] to adapt to the car, to what the car requires. You give him a steering wheel, and he knows what to do."
Kimi Raikkonen retired from F1 at the end of the 2021 season and took part in the NASCAR Cup Series the following year.
