He is also blindingly quick — at least, he is when he is in the mood.
All of which explains why there is such interest in the 2007 world champion’s
return to Formula One after two years in the World Rally Championship where
he proved he has balls of steel but perhaps not the patience or experience
to compete at the sharp end.
Everyone is curious to know which Kimi Lotus have signed. The one who came
through from 17th to claim a brilliant victory for McLaren
at the 2005 Japanese Grand Prix? Or the one Ferrari signed for a reputed
$50million per season to be their No 1 but ended up buying out of his
contract to make way for Fernando Alonso?
“It will depend on the car we have,” he shrugs. “Who knows? Of course I want
to win again. But what can you do if your car isn’t good enough? I’ll push
as hard as I can.” But will he? He has his doubters.
Sitting in a suite at the Dolder Grand hotel near his home in Zurich,
Raikkonen, 32, looks and sounds as imperturbable as ever. He is dressed head
to toe in black Lotus gear.
This is the part of the job he hates, the interviews and PR appearances, but
he is adamant that the grind of Formula One will not affect his motivation
levels.
He rolls his eyes when quizzed on the famous ‘ice cream for the Iceman’
episode from his final season at Ferrari in 2009. This occurred during a
rain delay at Sepang when cameras picked up Raikkonen, ostensibly still in
the race, dressed in shorts, munching on a Magnum and plucking a can of coke
from the Ferrari fridge.
“The funny thing is that people made a big story out of that, like I was
lacking motivation, but if the team tells you you’re not allowed to race the
car because it’s broken and it’s too dangerous because of the water and the
KERS device…” he sighs. “Sometimes people try to make a bad story out of
things which are normal. But that’s how it goes.”
Raikkonen does not try to fight the perception of him. He just ignores it. He
does not deny, though, that he would prefer to have driven in a less
sanitised, less politically correct era.
He once entered a snowmobile race under the pseudonym James Hunt, the late
1976 champion and legendary carouser to whom he has been compared. “In those
days Formula One was a bit different,” he says approvingly.
Is it a shame the way it has changed? “Life goes on. Everything changes. But
for sure I think things were a bit more fun when he was driving.”
Raikkonen, it seems, will not get to have as much fun as he did two seasons
ago when Ferrari allowed him to go rallying on his weekends off.
After their experience last year with Robert Kubica, the Pole whose career
still hangs in the balance following a horrific rally crash, Lotus have
forbidden their marquee signing from indulging his passion for
extracurricular fixes.
“Ah, it’s normal with Formula One they try to ban everything. Unfortunately
with what happened to Robert last year… but even before that it was
written into contracts.
“Maybe in the future if you can do some good results you can get a release or
something. I still love it. If I could do it this year at the same time as
Formula One I would. I think it’s good practice and it’s good fun.”
So how well can he do after two years away? Remember, it took Michael
Schumacher, a seven-time world champion, a whole season to get up to speed
when he returned in 2010. Not that Raikkonen would know. He says did not
bother watching any F1 while he was away.
“Sometimes when you are home or something it is on but I didn’t make any
special effort or anything.”
All Raikkonen will say is that he is confident his hiatus will not have
affected his speed, and his times in winter testing would appear to support
that theory.
Lotus are this year’s dark horses. Despite missing the whole of the second
test with a chassis issue, the car looks reasonably quick and team principal
Eric Boullier believes the Finn has already got to grips with the Pirelli
tyres introduced in his absence.
Whatever happens, it is just good to have one of the sport’s true characters
back. Life on Planet Kimi — as his old Ferrari team principal Stefano
Domenicali called it — is much the same.
“I do what I want,” he shrugs again. “If I want to go out and have fun with my
friends I can. There’s no one who tells me I’m not allowed to do it. As long
as you do your work at 100 per cent then I don’t see the problem.”