Kim Matias Raikkonen is known as the “Iceman”. He is a Finnish racing driver who is currently a participant in Formula One for Alfa Romeo Racing. He made a huge name for himself when he was the victor of the 2007 Formula One World Championship during his first season with Scuderia Ferrari.
After having competed in Formula One for nine seasons, he decided to leave the sport to participate in the World Rally Championship in 2010 and 2011. Raikkonen has the incredible record of having won 21 Grand Prix’s so far, and thus, at this point in time, he is the most successful Finnish driver in the history of Formula One.
In 2008, Raikkonen was in the Forbes Magazine list of ‘Celebrity 100’ as he was the fifth highest-paid sportsman and the 26th highest-paid celebrity at that time. Here are the things we just learned about F1’s mercurial Kimi Raikkonen:
15 Family Man
Kim Raikkonen loves to spend time at home with his family. He is the happiest when he is around his children, Rianna and Robin. He has mentioned that when he was young, he used to bond with his family a lot as everyone was interested in motorsports. That is why family matters a lot to him.
14 Dyslexia
Reading doesn’t come easy to him, as Raikkonen suffers from dyslexia. He inherited this from his mother. Dyslexia is a learning disorder that consists of difficulties in reading due to challenges identifying the sounds of speech, and learning to relate them to words and letters. It is a fairly common disorder.
13 No Advice
Raikkonen has a reputation for being terrible at taking advice. He prefers to do things his own way, without allowing anyone else to intervene. The one person he does listen to, however, is his Affairs Manager, Sami Visa. He listens to Visa as he knows that he is as straightforward as it gets.
12 Secret Singer
Once his vocal cords are warmed, Raikkonen can turn out to be quite the singer. One of his favorite karaoke songs is “Paalupaikka”. You can imagine how entertaining it would be to get a singing show from someone like Raikkonen - his fans should try to make it happen!
11 A Romantic At Heart
The story in which he describes his first meeting with his wife is guaranteed to make you swoon. He has mentioned that the two of them have always been fond of each other, and that talking has always come very easy to them. He also added that he finds her extremely attractive.
10 The Iceman
The story behind his nickname, Iceman, is a funny one. During the Malaysian Grand Prix of 209, it was raining hard one weekend and everyone had the idea to stay in their cars to be prepared for the races. However, Raikkonen had something different in mind. He put on his shorts and went to get ice cream.
9 Most Successful Finnish Driver In F1
Raikkonen is easily the most successful Finnish driver in F1, alongside being one of the best drivers of the 21st century. He is a member on a list of 5 men who have scored over 100 podiums, and also the record for the second-fastest laps of all time.
8 Snowboarding And Ice Hockey
A few of Raikkonen’s favorite hobbies include snowboarding and ice hockey. This isn’t a surprising fact at all, considering how both of these sports are quite risky and involve an element of thrill. For someone who loves racing, you can imagine that his other interests would involve an adrenaline rush too.
7 Postage Stamps
On 5th September 2008, Raikkonen was honored with having a postage stamp issued with his likeness on it in Finland. This was due to his victory at the 2007 Formula One World Championship. The stamp depicts Raikkonen, his team, and his car. The stamp shows just how immensely proud his country was of him.
6 Legal Troubles
Raikkonen has been alleged of sexual misconduct in the past, and as a result, he filed an extortion complaint with the police in Canada. It was alleged that he had touched the breast of a waitress while he was drunk at a restaurant, and the women made her story public on her blog without naming him.
5 Ice 1 Racing
Ice 1 Racing was Raikkonen’s team competing in the World Rally Championship. Initially, he used to drive for the Citroen Junior Team in his first World Rally Championship Season in 2010. However, since the Junior Team was disbanded in 2011, Raikkonen entered under the Ice 1 Racing name.
4 No Interviews
For a man as entertaining as Raikkonen, it is a disappointment that he prefers to run away from media interviews. His reasoning for this is disliking any sort of control at all, and prefer to do everything the way he wants. During a Sky Sports interview, he walked out in the middle of it by asking “Can I go?”.
3 Iconic Helmet
At Monaco in 2012, Raikkonen decided to honor one of his racing heroes by wearing James Hunt’s helmet livery. Raikkonen appreciates Hunt a lot, as he said he identifies with his carefreeness very much. In fact, once in 2007, Raikkonen even entered a snowmobile race under the name “James Hunt”.
2 Leaving McLaren
Raikkonen had no choice but to leave McLaren in 2007 as a number of his season had suffered to massive unreliability displayed by his cars. As a result, he ended up moving to Ferrari instead. This change helped him become Formula One World Driver’s Champion in the 2007 season.
1 2nd Highest Paid Athlete
In 2009, Raikkonen was named by Forbes as the second-highest-paid athlete in the world right after Tiger Woods. His net worth currently stands at a staggering $200 million dollars. The success and adrenaline rush might be the best part about being a part of the racing world, but getting a lot of money out of it must surely be a sweet bonus.