2007 world champion Raikkonen retired at the end of last season more than 20 years after his debut, amassing a record 349 grands prix contested for Sauber, McLaren, Ferrari, Lotus and Alfa Romeo.
In September he announced he would leave F1 at the end of 2021 having made the decision in the winter before his final season, and admitted he may not compete professionally again.
Kimi Raikkonen has been one of the most popular figures in F1 for much of his career due to his candid and honest attitude, and has rarely been involved in major controversy or political issues.
In a wide-ranging interview with Motorsport.com in Abu Dhabi ahead of his final race, Raikkonen spoke about his frustration with some Formula 1 components.
“There’s a lot of things that don’t make sense, at least in my head, about what’s going on here,” Raikkonen told Motorsport.com.
Asked what things didn’t make sense to him, Raikkonen replied: “All kinds of nonsense going around. We all know it, but nobody says it. Things I don’t even think should happen.”
“A lot of things are very fake here. It’s good to be out. Mentally, it’s going to be really good to be out of all that shit for a while.”
Raikkonen admitted it was “easier to come back” to F1 after his sabbatical in 2010-2011 as he knew what to expect on his return, because he would “go back to exactly the same” where he came from.
“I know what I’m looking forward to when I quit this time,” he added. “There’s a lot more [shit] here than what people see from the outside.”
Raikkonen said that when he came to Formula 1 he didn’t find the complicated elements of racing so bad because “everything was new” and “was nothing like today”.
The Finn singled out money as a major factor that had changed in F1.
“Money, money has changed things, like in any sport,” he explained.
“The more money you put in, the more politics there is. In general, in any country, there are things that people never know until you are inside everything.”
“Clearly money plays a part, and power. I guess people want power, they want this and that. I think there would be many in F1 who are politicians who would do well in real politics! “.
Asked if he thought F1 had lost its way a bit and was now less about pure racing, Raikkonen said: “It’s been that way for many years, many years. It’s just that maybe people realize it more now. “.
But Raikkonen prefers to stay out of the political side of F1 and explained that he was not too involved in it.
“I don’t get involved,” he finally commented.
“I know a lot of things that happen, but I don’t get involved. If you get involved every day, I don’t think it’s very healthy for you.”
