Kimi Raikkonen to retire from Formula 1 at the end of the season

Getty Images
Daniel Gallan1 September 2021

After 1865 points across 341 Grand Prix starts, 103 podiums, 21 wins, 18 pole positions, one world title and a single facial expression, Kimi Raikkonen is calling time on his Formula 1 career.

The “Ice Man” from Finland will be 42 at the end of the current season.

He made his debut at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix in a Sauber and returned to the constructor in 2019 under its current guise Alfa Romeo.

He also drove for McLaren between 2002 and 2006 before switching to Ferrari, replacing Michael Schumacher and winning the 2007 championship in his first season. That was also the last driver’s title Ferrari has won.

“This is it,” Raikkonen said on Instagram. “This will be my last season in Formula 1. This is a decision I did during last winter. It was not an easy decision but after this season it is time for new things.

“Even though the season is still on, I want to thank my family, all my teams, everyone involved in my racing career and especially all of you great fans that have been rooting for me all this time.

“Formula 1 might come to an end for me but there is a lot more in life that I want to experience and enjoy. See you around after all of this.”

It remains unclear who will replace him at Alfa Romeo, with several names including Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas being mentioned.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in