Kimi Räikkönen will return from his long competition break in August at the Nascar event. The 2007 world champion has continued to train after his F1 career.
Finished his long and successful F1 career at last season’s Abu Dhabi race Kimi Raikkonen hasn’t raced in over half a year. The competitive break ends on August 21, when the Finn drives in the Nascar Cup race in the United States.
He will race in a team called Trackhouse, and the race car will be a Chevrolet Camaro. The venue for the competition is the Watkins Glen track.
– The team already asked for interest last year, but it was left a little open then. It’s nice to go and try it out, Räikkönen said on Friday at a press conference organized by his sponsor.
For now, it is a single race, but Räikkönen has not ruled out the idea of a possible continuation.
– We’ll see. They would have hoped that this year I could have raced 2-3 races. However, there was still no great desire to go on a trip.
Nascar is a popular sport in the United States. The races are mainly held on oval tracks, but Watkins Glen is a regular motor track.
– I haven’t been there before. It can be a bit of a scrap rally, but we try to stay away from that, Räikkönen blurts out.
“Relatively relaxed”
The Nascar race is by no means a new experience for Räikkönen. While the 2007 world champion was away from formula racing in 2010-2011, he drove in two Nascar races for the Kyle BuschMotosport team. It was the Truck and Nationwide series races.
However, Räikkönen has not driven in the Nascar Cup race.
– Nascar was fun back then, even though I didn’t drive in the main series. The series has changed to the GT series. Cars have changed a lot for this season.
During his F1 break, Räikkönen also drove the World Rally Championship. However, Nascar was the factor that restored his enthusiasm for tire-to-tire racing.
He found himself missing the feeling he got to experience in formula one.
For the 2012 season, Räikkönen returned to the F1 series at the Lotus team. Right in his comeback season, he achieved a victory, seven podium places and was third in the drivers’ World Championship points.
– Nascar’s style is relatively relaxed and quite different. Those previous cars were surprisingly good to drive. It is the mood of the old covenant. The event itself is also quite a different entity, Räikkönen said.
Practice with the same formula
Räikkönen is not going to prepare for the August race in any special way. After his F1 career, he has continued physical training. Räikkönen says that everyday sports are very natural to him. That’s how long he has dedicated himself to top sports during his life.
– Not in any strange way now. We’ll go there a little early to get the driver’s seat and such in order.
– I’ve pretty much followed the same pattern. It has always been somewhat practiced. If you haven’t been interested one day, then I haven’t done it by force. I’ll do enough to stay on his feet, Räikkönen says.
Räikkönen drove in 2011 Kyle Busch’s as a teammate who won the Nascar Cup championship in 2015 and 2019. Busch is still involved in that series.
This season, the 1997 F1 champion has also driven in the series Jacques Villeneuve. Räikkönen raced against him in the early 2000s.
– I have raced against some drivers in the past. However, I don’t know anyone there. At least last time everyone helped if you asked. I don’t think it has changed at all.
The reigning Nascar Cup champion is Kyle Larson.
The Nascar races have inspired many filmmakers. For example, a superstar Tom Cruise has starred in a Nascar-themed film. Disney’s children’s film Cars is based on that sport.