Kimi Raikkonen said ending a win-less drought which has lasted over five years with victory in the United States Grand Prix wasn’t a “big deal” for him.
The Ferrari driver had entered 114 races since his previous win with Lotus in the 2013 Australian Grand Prix.
But after resisting pressure from Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton to win at the Circuit of the Americas, Raikkonen insisted “it’s not a big deal for me.”“It’s a much bigger deal for a lot of the people. If it comes, it comes. If it doesn’t, it really doesn’t change my life one bit.”
However Raikkonen, who only has three races left as a Ferrari driver, admitted he took some extra satisfaction from defying his critics by returning to the top step of the podium.
“I’m happy we are here and that we win but I think the biggest difference is the way people look at you,” he said.
“If you look at people in a different way if they win or not, it doesn’t make a lot of difference in my mind. But obviously I’m happy, just proving some people wrong is enough fun for me.”
Ferrari showed a much improved turn of pace at Austin, despite having lagged behind their rivals during the wet running on Friday.
“I was pretty confident we had the speed,” said Raikkonen. “Obviously the tyres [were] very unknown because I had not a lot of running on Friday and a little bit on Saturday morning.
“[But] I felt like we’d do OK because the morning running on Saturday.”
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Postreader
22nd October 2018, 1:23
Are the “classic Kimi” comments allowed yet?
MrBoerns (@mrboerns)
22nd October 2018, 1:25
Fun little stat: Just like the last time Kimi won a race, he did so by doing one stop less than his rival(s) (yeah yeah i know, verstappen, but i’ll go out on a limb and say probably most bets were on Hamilton) And then still being able to up his pace on older tires (at least a little) once he was caught.
MrBoerns (@mrboerns)
22nd October 2018, 1:27
more of a factoid, actually
David BR (@david-br)
22nd October 2018, 2:35
So basically Kimi Raikkonen just likes to drive around fast, as fast as possible maybe, and if he end up winning, that’s an irrelevance that seems to make some other people happy (or act a bit funny, not sure which from his comment). Well, at least you can say he is truly unique as a Formula 1 driver.
bull mello (@bullmello)
22nd October 2018, 4:11
@david-br – A bit more stoic than most, indeed. I think he honestly seemed pretty happy about the win, for Kimi. He did smile a few times and even laugh a bit.
After missing out on a few possible wins due to mechanical issues and other circumstances, that had to feel pretty darn good.
BasCB (@bascb)
22nd October 2018, 7:56
He also seemed uncharacteristically talkative to me right after the race @bullmello. I think he really does enjoy it a lot.
kpcart
22nd October 2018, 4:45
Kimi only staying in f1 for money I believe
BlackJackFan
22nd October 2018, 17:53
Hi kpfart – back again, I see, with another nonsensical comment… :)
BOSS
22nd October 2018, 6:12
Congratulations Kimi
Wayne
22nd October 2018, 6:23
Wife to kimi after a “session”: wow that was great! Kimi to wife: well i mean its good that people say its good but for me uno if it comes it comes. Doesnt change my life….
Phylyp (@phylyp)
22nd October 2018, 7:16
Even if he has “performance issues”, he could still say the same: “It’s a much bigger deal for a lot of the people. If it comes, it comes. If it doesn’t, it really doesn’t change my life one bit.” :-P
Wayne
22nd October 2018, 8:48
Hahaha!!
jimkeith
22nd October 2018, 10:21
Leave me alone, I still know what I’m doing.
dusty (@dusty)
22nd October 2018, 14:57
Maybe the mindset of “winning or not does’t change my life” is not ideal for top level competition on a top level team.
dubsix (@dubsix)
22nd October 2018, 16:12
Must be a full time job to not show any emotion or let anything seem like it’s a big deal.
Christopher Bowers (@darkstar)
23rd October 2018, 2:23
Well done Kimi. I was actually very pleased he won. I freely admit to being a Kimi fan. I thought he had a great race today. He fought hard for it.