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Kimi Raikkonen Reveals His True Feelings on Ferrari F1 Replacing Him With Fernando Alonso in 2010

Published 12/11/2021, 3:41 AM EST

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In 2007, Kimi Raikkonen won Ferrari the championship, but after just a couple of seasons, in 2010, the Italian team replaced him with Fernando Alonso. The Finn was out of Formula One until he made a comeback with Lotus back in 2012.

However, the 07′ world champion doesn’t hold any grudge against the Maranello-based team. Instead, he has stated that he has a good relationship with the team, and the two-year hiatus helped him to clear his head.

Kimi Raikkonen opens up about Ferrari choosing to bring Fernando Alonso in

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Ferrari is a team that always demands the best out of their drivers and hence decided to part ways with the Finnish driver to bring in the 2-time world champion.

Speaking to ESPN, Raikkonen said, “The stuff with Ferrari, I always felt that with the people that were important I had a good relationship.Obviously they had their reasons, but I have no interest to talk about that and no issue with it as well.”

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“I always said at that time, I was more than happy to leave and I was quite fed up with all the politics and bulls— in F1, so it was good to be out for a couple of years. Without that I wouldn’t be here today, good and bad. So why would I start saying bad things about them? They had all their rights to put whoever they want in the car and I think we left in a good condition.”

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“Of course there were some people who were a bit so-so, but I don’t care, you know? They felt they owned things but they didn’t try to screw me over completely, so I have no issue with it,” Raikkonen concluded.

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The Italian team post a farewell message for their 07′ world champion

This weekend the world of Formula One will say goodbye to Kimi. One of the greatest achievements in his F1 career was winning the championship with Ferrari back in 2007.

Seeing the major role he played in the team’s history in the sport, the Italian team dedicated a post for the Finn before his final race at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

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Ferrari wrote, “Celebrating the career of a legend, #Kimi7 #essereFerrari #F1 #KiitosKimi#AbuDhabiGP,” to which the Iceman replied, Ferrari and Italy will forever have a special place in my heart. Grazie mille!”

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What is your prediction for the Finn for his final race in F1 this race weekend in Abu Dhabi? Let us know in the comments below.

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Written by:

Arpit Gomes

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Arpit Gomes is an F1 author at EssentiallySports. Currently pursuing his Journalism degree from Xavier’s Institute, he is a big fan of McLaren and their driver Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo. Arpit always looks forward to the paddock moving to Spa and drivers dealing with the exciting Eau Rouge corner as well the straight at Monza.
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