Kimi Raikkonen admits he is surprised by the fact that he remains Ferrari's most recent F1 World Champion. The Finn clinched the title whilst driving for the Scuderia in 2007, when he beat the McLarens of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso by one point to take his only Formula 1 championship. Whilst Raikkonen is proud of what he achieved, he doesn't feel that this feat changed his life, other than altering how others viewed him. "Obviously it's nice," Raikkonen told the Beyond The Grid podcast. "It's [one of the reasons] why all of us are here. "Unfortunately, one wins every year, and [if you look at the] history, there's a lot of the same people who seemed to be winning most of them. "It's something I always wanted to do, and I achieved it. Also with Ferrari, I think it was nice to win with them, definitely. "But it looks better on paper than it makes any difference in my life, in many ways. People might look [at] you differently because you have won, rather than if you don't. It doesn't really make any sense."
Ferrari's last F1 title
Raikkonen went on to leave Ferrari at the end of the 2009 season, after which he spent two years away from F1, though he returned to the Scuderia for a second stint between 2014 and 2018. No driver has won the World Championship with the team since Raikkonen, and this is something of a surprise to the 42-year-old. "Yeah, but that's just how it happened," Raikkonen explained, when asked if he was surprised to be Ferrari's most recent champion. "They've come close, sometimes. But when I left there in 2018, I said [that] I wish them all the best and hope they will change that soon, but it hasn't happened yet. But, who knows, maybe next year [or] in the near future [it will change]." 2007 was not the only year that Raikkonen was in contention for the title, but it turned out to be his sole championship in his extensive Formula 1 career. Despite this, he has no regrets about not winning any more. "I don't care, really," Raikkonen responded after being quizzed on whether his talent deserved more titles. "I mean, I said it always that I wouldn't change [anything], even if I [could]. It wouldn't mean that I win more races or championships, because change one thing and I don't think we would be here today. "So my life would probably be different. I tried and failed a few times, but that's a part of racing."
Most read
