Kimi Räikkönen To Retire

After 20 years in F1, Kimi Räikkönen has announced he will be retiring at the end of this season. From his on track battles and World Championship win, to heading to his boat in Monaco instead of the pit lane and eating ice cream instead of sitting in his car before a restart, Kimi is an icon on and off the track; Formula 1 is going to miss him.

Earlier this evening, the driver took to Instagram, making his statement alongside a collage of some of his best memories in the sport.

"This is it. This will be my last season in Formula 1. This is a decision I did during last winter. It was not an easy decision but after this season it is time for new things. Even though the season is still on, I want to thank my family, all my teams, everyone involved in my racing career and especially all of you great fans that have been rooting for me all this time. Formula 1 might come to an end for me but there is a lot more in life that I want to experience and enjoy. See you around after all of this! Sincerely Kimi"

Räikkönen started out in karting at the age of 10 and competed in many of the junior series including the European Formula Super A championship, Formula Ford Euro Cup, winning the British Formula Renault winter series in 1999 and the Formula Renault UK Championship in 2000. In 2000, the Finnish driver tested for Sauber before being given a seat for the 2001 season. There were many concerns over granting his F1 Super Licence as he was very inexperienced, however, he helped the team finish 4th in the Constructors Championship that year. He then raced for McLaren between 2002 and 2006 before moving to Ferrari between 2007 and 2009, where won the Championship in his first year with the team. Räikkönen then left F1 for the 2010 and 2011 season, making his rally debut and NASCAR. In 2012, he returned to the grid for Lotus, before moving back to Ferrari between 2014 and 2018. In 2019, he went back to the team where he started his F1 career (now racing under the Alfa Romeo name).

Formula 1 is absolutely going to miss him and we can't wait to see what he does next.