‘My wife will be more emotional than me’ says Raikkonen ahead of his final F1 appearance

It’s the end of an era this weekend, as Kimi Raikkonen prepares for his 349th and final Grand Prix start with the Alfa Romeo driver admitting his “wife will be more emotional than me” about the enormity of this weekend…

During a career that has lasted two decades, Raikkonen won 21 races, took 103 podiums and 18 pole positions plus the 2007 world championship – and drove for several teams, including Sauber/Alfa Romeo, McLaren, Ferrari and Lotus.

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For his final weekend, the 42-year-old has brought along his wife Minttu and two children Robin and Rianna, who'll watch Raikkonen racing in a special-liveried Alfa Romeo C41 (see images below). “I think it’s true my wife will be more emotional about it,” said Raikkonen about their attendance.

“Honestly I doubt that the kids will care either way, there are things their father does that are far more interesting! They like coming to a warm country and other things but it’s nice to have them here.”

When asked if he will be emotional on Sunday, his final day in a Formula 1 paddock, the Finn replied: “I don’t know, I doubt it but you never know.”

Raikkonen said he has no plans for his immediate future, instead preferring to live without a schedule, but he is open to exploring other projects at some point.

“Right now I’m not looking at anything apart from finishing the year,” he said. “We’ll see if there’s some interesting things that comes out, if it makes sense maybe I’ll do it but I have zero plans right now.

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“I don’t want to make any plans, I’m looking forward to having a less hectic schedule from my side so we’ll see if we’ll do something or not in the future.”

Raikkonen is currently 16th in the drivers’ championship, having missed two Grands Prix after testing positive for Covid-19 and scoring points on four occasions.