Although Kimi Raikkonen retired from Formula 1 at the end of last year, he is still remembered in the paddock and will be remembered for a long time to come.
Beat Zehnder, a classic car from the team that was called Sauber until 2019, and now it’s Alfa Romeo, considers the Finn to be the most talented of all the racers he’s ever worked with, and there have been many of them in 30 years.
Zehnder likes to talk about how the future world champion impressed the Swiss team during the very first tests at Mugello in the autumn of 2000. Moreover, it cannot be said that this impression was unequivocal …
“The first impression was not so good,” says Zender. – But what can you expect from a man who got into a Formula 1 car right after Formula Renault? During the tests we did three or four laps, after which Kimi needed a break to catch his breath. We asked Josef Leberer, our physiotherapist, to help him. However, Kimi immediately assured that he could go faster…”
Everything that happened after that is already history, but we can remember the words of Sergio Rinland, who was Sauber’s chief designer at the time, who was also at those tests: “When I saw Kimi behind the wheel of Sauber, I remembered Senna. At Ayrton’s first Formula 3 tests at Truxton in 1982, everyone immediately understood that he was a future superstar, and we had a similar feeling at the Mugello tests.
During his years at Sauber, Beat Zehnder had the opportunity to interact with drivers such as Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Nick Heidfeld, Jacques Villeneuve, Felipe Massa, Robert Kubica and Charles Leclerc. But if you ask who he considers the most gifted and fastest of them all, the answer is unequivocal: ‘Kimi. In terms of pure talent, this is definitely Kimi.”
Räikkönen made his F1 debut in 2001, scoring points on his first attempt. According to Zender, he had a three-year contract with Sauber, in addition, it was very rigid and there was no early termination. But it soon became known that the McLaren team, at the time one of the strongest in Formula 1, was interested in Kimi’s services.
“Raikkonen has announced to us that he will either move to McLaren or simply leave the team. But on the other hand, Sauber received a solid financial compensation and this money was invested in the construction of a new wind tunnel,” said the Swiss engineer.
These events took place two decades ago and the Kimi name has been on the front pages of the race press ever since. Of course, there was some silence when he announced his retirement, but just six months later, the famed Finn was once again being talked about as he prepares to return to NASCAR and will start the race at Watkins Glen next weekend.
He will be driving the Trackhouse Racing team’s third Chevrolet Camaro, the first tests have already been completed, Kimi is pleased with their results and hopes that everything will be fine. In the meantime, he is resting with his family in New York, including with the children on the merry-go-rounds in Central Park. Besides, it is symbolic in its own way that he chose a black horse for himself – perhaps in memory of the time when he played for Ferrari …
Source: F1 News
I’m Todderic Kirkman, a journalist and author for athletistic. I specialize in covering all news related to sports, ranging from basketball to football and everything in between. With over 10 years of experience in the industry, I have become an invaluable asset to my team. My ambition is to bring the most up-to-date information on sports topics around the world.
