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Iceman Raikkonen refuses to melt as F1 exit beckons

Sam Hall Thursday 2 December 2021 19:10 Updated: 19:15

Iceman Raikkonen refuses to melt as F1 exit beckons

Kimi Raikkonen will call time on his F1 career at the end of the season but the Finn is determined to maintain his 'Iceman' exterior.

Aside from a brief two-year stint competing in the World Rally Championship in 2010-11, Raikkonen has been a mainstay in F1 since 2001 when he began his career alongside Fernando Alonso, Juan Pablo Montoya and Enrique Bernoldi.

The Alfa Romeo driver will end his time in the sport with 349 starts after spending time at Ferrari, McLaren and Lotus before returning to the Sauber team, now Alfa Romeo, where his journey began.

Asked about the send-off the team gave him at its Hinwil base on Sunday, Raikkonen said: “There’s not much to tell.

"Obviously, it was nice to see all the people. It was the last time I will go there so I went with the family, we stayed there a while and saw all the people. I signed quite a bit of stuff for them but that was nice.

“It doesn’t matter how it [the send-off] looks. It was beautiful. I think they [the team] thought it was important. It was good.”

You’ll always be missed ❤️ pic.twitter.com/pTCiBOmkqq
— Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN (@alfaromeoracing) November 26, 2021

Despite the touching scenes shared across social media, Raikkonen questioned: “Why would you get emotional about it?

"I’m looking really forward and I’m happy that it is soon over. It’s nothing sad, [there’s] nothing sad about it.”

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Iceman Raikkonen refuses to melt as F1 exit beckons

Iceman Raikkonen refuses to melt as F1 exit beckons