Much has been made over the years about Kimi Raikkonen’s aloof nature and “iceman” demeanor but Stefano Domenicalli, Ferrari boss, has summed up his drivers persona this week by saying; “Kimi lives in another world; another planet”.
This probably won’t surprise anyone as Kimi is a unique character amongst the glamor and bombastic nature of F1. He, for lack of a better term, is a fairly simple guy who lives within himself and doesn’t seem to car too much about the world around him. Some might suggest that he spends a significant amount of his life navel-gazing but I think he is just an odd character comparatively. Kimi has chosen a profession in which glam and glitz are the standard fare. Kimi, conversely, is not standard nor is he the type who gushes over the things that make F1 bright and shiny. To that point, I say good for him.
“Kimi lives in another world; on another planet,” he is quoted as saying by the German news agency SID.
Domenicali’s point is reinforced by an anecdote of the Italian press following the launch of the new F60 single seater earlier this week.
According to colleagues who attended the Mugello roll-out of the 2009 car, while drivers Felipe Massa, Michael Schumacher, Luca Badoer and Marc Gene conversed in the paddock, 29-year-old Raikkonen was asleep in a car in the carpark.
“Kimi isolates himself,” Domenicali confirmed. “If he feels pressure, then it’s only because he has put it on himself.
“Nothing that is coming from the outside affects him at all — and that is unbelievable,” he said.
Domenicali said he would never expect Raikkonen to emerge from the winter break and “has suddenly learned Italian”, or is “suddenly smiling”.
“That is not the way he is,” the Italian explained. “But he is completely impatient to drive and win races again.”
Source GMM.
