Why the time is right for Raikkonen to hang up his F1 helmet

Kimi Raikkonen will finally hang up his helmet at the end of the current Formula 1 season. The Finn has had an unconventional motorsport career, and though the wins and podiums have long since dried up, Raikkonen's decision to call time on his F1 tenure has come at the right moment

There was something very fitting about the way Kimi Raikkonen announced on Wednesday that he would be retiring from Formula 1 at the end of the year. It didn’t come via a press release from his Alfa Romeo team, or any emotional video paying tribute to his efforts and looking back on a remarkable time in the series.

It was, as so much of Kimi’s F1 career has been, done entirely on his terms.

Raikkonen made the announcement via his Instagram account, writing a post of just 110 words that was accompanied by a collage of pictures featuring some of the highlights from his time in F1. In the post, he revealed he took the decision last winter, and that it was now “time for new things”.

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Author Luke Smith

Luke Smith is Autosport’s Formula 1 reporter. Luke has been working in F1 as a journalist since 2013, initially alongside a History degree at University College London. Luke served as the lead F1 writer at American broadcaster NBC Sports from 2013-17 before spending two years as the F1 Editor for Crash.net. Luke joined Autosport for the 2020 season.

Luke is also a contributor to The New York Times for its F1 special reports, and has previously worked with Al Jazeera and CNBC, as well as hosting FIA press conferences. Outside of F1, Luke is a fan of sports and music, with an ever-growing vinyl collection, and has being bitten by the running bug in recent years. He also runs a surprisingly popular blog reviewing the often-terrible media centre coffee from his F1 travels.