WATCH: Kimi Raikkonen Seen Training His Son Robin on Karts

Published 10/05/2019, 11:15 AM EDT

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Alfa Romeo driver Kimi Raikkonen is entering the twilight of his career, though he has proven that he still has it in him. However, he is aware that he cannot race forever, but is determined to keep the Raikkonen name in motor racing circles.

To be precise, his son, Robin Raikkonen, who is four years old, is already driving around in karts. In other words, he is basically starting off Robin fairly young and introducing him to the family business.

Back in August, Robin got his first taste of a go kart and it was a trial by fire for the boy. Although, to be precise, it was a trial by water, as the track that he was going around in, was damp. He even posted a picture of his daughter Rianna in a motionless go kart, promising that she will join in a few years.

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Raikkonen said Robin often rode a mini motorbike (with a modified throttle to stop him going too fast), but that he was already planning his son’s go-kart debut for the summer.

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In terms of Kimi’s own F1 career, things have not gone down so well for the Finnish veteran. He has undergone a poor run of form in the past few races and is quite frustrated.

Speaking to the media after the Russian Grand Prix, he said, “Obviously the race was my fault, but in the end we managed to get back in the race with the Safety Cars and we managed to un-lap ourselves, but unfortunately we didn’t have enough speed. We could just hang in with Toro Rosso and I could pass one guy but basically I passed him because they were fighting against each other and [Pierre Gasly] went wide.

He noted that out of the last four races, Spa Francorchamps was the only race that they were fairly competitive. Kimi Raikkonen had his race undone when he copped a penalty for a false start. So, he had to mount a comeback, though his car was not exactly quick enough. He has confessed that it has been a few tough races, and stressed on the need to regroup and find their mojo again for the final races of the season.

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The next race is the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka and Alfa Romeo are trying to hunt down the Racing Point team. The battle between them for seventh in the constructors’ championship is swinging in the other direction. However, with five races to go, anything can happen.

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Written by:

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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