We began to joke that we’d see Kimi ‘The Iceman’ Raikkonen racing until he was geriatric, but alas, no, Kimi has announced that this is his last season in F1.
Kimi took to Instagram to share the news,
“This is it. This will be my last season in Formula 1. This is a decision I did during last winter. It was not an easy decision but after this season it is time for new things. Even though the season is still on, I want to thank my family, all my teams, everyone involved in my racing career and especially all of you great fans that have been rooting for me all this time. Formula 1 might come to an end for me but there is a lot more in life that I want to experience and enjoy. See you around after all of this! Sincerely Kimi.”
The 41-year-old has had an illustrious career in the sport with 341 starts, 103 podiums, 21 race wins, 1,865 points, 18 pole positions, 46 fastest laps, and one world championship title. We’ll have to see what he adds to this list by the end of this season.
According to ESPN, this decision means the way is paved for Valtteri Bottas to take the empty Alfa Romeo seat and George Russell can take the seat at Mercedes.
Formula 1’s managing director for motorsport, Ross Brawn, said, “In my view, there is only one decision for Mercedes next year with regards to the second seat.”
An announcement will surely appear in the coming weeks but this still does not seem a guarantee that Russell will be in a Mercedes next year.