Kimi Raikkonen is shocked he's still driving in Formula 1 at 40-years-old!
- Bobby Vincent
Former Formula 1 world champion Kimi Raikkonen has admitted he is shocked he is still driving in F1 at the veteran age of 40-years-old.
Raikkonen made his F1 debut 18 years ago, when driving for Sauber at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix. He's nowadays still with Sauber, but under a different name: Alfa Romeo Racing - where he returned to after moving from Ferrari.
The Finn is the oldest driver on the grid, and he has admitted if somebody had have asked him whether he'd still be driving in F1 at his current age, he wouldn't have believed them.
"I don't think I would have believed someone if they'd told me back then I would still be racing in F1 at the age of 40," Raikkonen admitted to Yahoo! Sport. "Obviously, at that time, it was all about simply trying to drive well and stay in F1. Nothing was guaranteed.
"Yes, I had a contract in 2001 for three years - two plus one - but it was such early days that the aim was to try to do well and see what happens, but even when I was 27 or 28, I wouldn't have put money on it.
"Obviously, I left for a couple of years (in 2010 and 2011, Raikkonen took a break from the sport), and if I hadn't have done that, then I wouldn't be here today because I was pretty fed up, not with the racing, but with the politics and other nonsense."