Kimi Raikkonen Rubbishes Rally Skill Myth After Russian GP

The Russian Grand Prix had a mixture of emotions associated with it once it came to a close. While some drivers achieved more than what they expected, others lost out on a lot. Among the gainers, the one result that cannot be overlooked is Raikkonen’s eighth-place finish in his Alfa Romeo. However, Kimi Raikkonen doesn’t want to attribute his excellent driving skills in the wet to his experience accumulated in rallying.

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Kimi Raikkonen discards ‘Rally Skills’ hypothesis

Kimi used to compete in Rally Racing during the hiatus he took from Formula One from 2009 to 2011. The excellent control of the car that Kimi displayed in the critical conditions at Sochi, led people to think that Kimi had picked up these skills while rallying. Kimi himself discarded this hypothesis during his post-race statements. When asked about it, Kimi replied in his usual manner. “No, they (the rallying skills) didn’t help me.”

Kimi continued, “I think our car is often not the best in wet conditions. Luckily we stopped at the right time and then had enough speed to allow me to overtake in the last two laps. We were the first to change tires when it was already quite wet – he concluded – and in the end, it turned out to be the right move.”

Therefore, it is quite clear that the result of this race is not a reflection of the skills that the ‘Iceman’ picked up during his rallying stint.

The Iceman made a statement with his performance

After missing two races due to COVID, the Finn returned with a bang. He used all of his experience to make a decision of switching to the intermediate tires just as the first drops of rain appeared, while others were still on their dry tires.

After Kimi’s amazing rise from P16 to the points positions, Alfa Romeo’s team boss, Frederic Vasseur seemed very satisfied.

Vasseur stated, “The race was very close and we took home a good number of points. Despite some difficulties on Saturday, we approached the race with optimism, knowing that we would be in a position to fight. Kimi got off to a good start and climbed up to 10th, while Antonio had to regroup after being hit. He did some overtaking, having no radio contact.” Indeed, Antonio Giovinazzi had a tough race at the Russian GP 2021 because he had no radio contact throughout the race.

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This is Kimi’s last season in F1 and all the Formula 1 fans are going to miss his presence in the paddock. Before he leaves we hope we can see a few more of his brilliant drives.