Birthday Man Kimi Raikkonen Has No Advice for his Younger Self

Published 10/17/2019, 8:31 AM EDT

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Formula One veteran and Alfa Romeo driver Kimi Raikkonen is celebrating his 40th birthday today. However, when asked what advice he would give to his 21-year old self, Raikkonen said “nothing”.

The 2007 F1 World Champion is regarded as one of the most popular drivers on the F1 grid. He has 21 grand prix wins to his name, alongside his solitary world championship in 2007 for Ferrari. However it is highly likely that he break Rubens Barrichello’s record for the most grand prix starts.

He is currently third with 308, while Barrichello’s tally is 322 race starts in Formula One. However, by the time his current Alfa Romeo contract expires, he will have passed the Brazilian.

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When speaking about the milestone, Kimi Raikkonen was unsurprisingly unmoved by the significance. He said, “It’s no big deal. People make it bigger than what it is.”

“I don’t feel that old really. I’ve probably been feeling old for years already, like 15 years, so that hasn’t changed.My mind is still young so that’s the only thing that matters.”

When asked about words of advice to his 21-year-old self, he replied: “Nothing. I wouldn’t talk to him. I wouldn’t change anything. I have no regrets and would absolutely change nothing.”

“You learn some things. Some things you can do better but I have no bad feelings about anything otherwise I wouldn’t be here today and done the things the way I want to do.”

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“I wouldn’t want to go through it all again, that’s for sure. I’m happy to be more close to the end part rather than the beginning. Obviously when I started I was young in that time, but not that young compared to drivers now.”

“Life has changed a bit, I think it’s the same for all sports, it keeps starting younger and younger, so no I wouldn’t want to do it again.”

The taciturn Finn is popular on the track and in the paddock with fans. However, only as recent as last year, Kimi Raikkonen got onto social media. However, he primarily uses Instagram, to post images, ranging from track activities to his wife and children.

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“Well I get to decide at least,” Raikkonen said about his newfound love for Instagram. “It’s very good for that because unfortunately these days people write nonsense most of the time. So at least you can say how things are [for yourself] and you have some channel to say it. For that kind of thing it is pretty good.”

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Dhruv George

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Dhruv George is a senior Formula One and NASCAR analyst for EssentiallySports, having authored nearly 12000 articles spanning different sports like F1, NASCAR, Tennis, NFL, and eSports. He graduated with a PG Diploma in Journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications. Dhruv has also conducted interviews with F1 driver Pierre Gasly and Moto2 rider Tony Arbolino.
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