Kimi Raikkonen Confirms F-1 Retirement

ZANDVOORT, Netherlands – Kimi Raikkonen, the 2007 Formula 1 champion, confirmed Wednesday that he will retire from Formula 1 racing at the end of the season.

Raikkonen, 41, made the news official in a post on his official Instagram page. 

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Kimi Räikkönen (@kimimatiasraikkonen)

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

The Swede made his Formula 1 debut in 2001 driving for the Sauber team before being hired by McLaren for the 2002 season. He earned his first Formula 1 victory the following season for McLaren during the Malaysian Grand Prix. It was the first 21 victories during his career to date.

Raikkonen would spend five seasons at McLaren, which included a breakthrough season in 2005 where he won a career-best seven races and finished second in the driver standings to Renault’s Fernando Alonso. 

After going winless in 2006, Raikkonen departed McLaren to join the Ferrari factory team. He would score six victories in his first season with the team, which he capped by earning his lone Formula 1 championship by one point ahead of McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton.

Raikkonen remained at Ferrari for three seasons, earning a further three victories before departing the team at the end of the 2009 season. Unable to find a competitive ride for 2010, Raikkonen focused on rally racing for the next two seasons while also dabbling in NASCAR. 

He returned to Formula 1 in 2012 with the Lotus F1 team, winning twice before signing a contract to return to Ferrari in 2014. He spent the next five seasons racing for Ferrari, going winless until scoring his final victory to date during the 2018 running of the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

Raikkonen departed Ferrari a second time at the conclusion of the 2018 season and landed at Alfa Romeo, which had been previously known as Sauber. He’s currently in his third season driving for Alfa Romeo.

“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 of this time,” Raikkonen said. “Formula 1 might have come to an end for me, but there is a lot more in life that I want to experience and enjoy.”