Kimi Raikkonen has admitted he’ll only miss the thrill of driving in Formula 1 when he does eventually decide to retire from the sport.
Following Fernando Alonso’s decision to leave the grid at the end of this season, it will leave the Finn as the last driver to have competed in the V10, V8 and V6 eras should, as the latest speculation suggests, he stay on at Ferrari for at least one more year.
Incredibly, after the 39-year-old, the next most experienced driver will be Lewis Hamilton, a man who entered F1 six years after Raikkonen, and this week, at the launch of his new book in Helsinki, he was asked if he’d miss the sport after calling it a day.
“No it will not be hard to stop this job,” Kimi replied. “I will be relieved when all of the things not involving driving will end. The driving is great but nothing else.”
Considering what he would do once he hung up his helmet, Kimi admits there’ll be little chance of him following most drivers into punditry and actually called out Nico Rosberg over his decision to turn to TV.
“When he explained why (he is stopping) I thought it was cool and I understood,” he said. “Now he’s standing there with a microphone. I cannot understand why given the reasons he gave for wanting to leave.
“I’m interested in doing something like developing a car, but in the background not in public. It will not be standing with a microphone,” he added.