A new adventure for the 2007 champion.
Kimi Räikkönen left Formula 1 at the end of last season after more than 20 years in the Great Circus… but that does not mean that he will leave motorsport for good. In fact, the Finn has already announced his next venture: he’ll be taking part in the NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen next August.
Kimi will drive a Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the Trackhouse Racing team alongside his new teammates, Daniel Suarez and Ross Chastain. The 2007 F1 champion participated in his last race last December, in Abu Dhabi, where he said goodbye to the championship in which he has so shone since his debut in 2001 with Sauber.
Räikkönen has assured that he was not thinking about racing again “in a serious way”, but this project in NASCAR has finished attracting him. “We had some conversations about what the race would look like and where it would take place, as well as other things. There are a lot of issues involved, and it made sense to me.”
“It’s a race, so it makes sense for all of us as a family. I’ve always had fun when I’ve been in some races there (in America). I hope we have a good race and have fun. It’s obviously a new car that I’ve never been on the track, but we will know how to deal with it”, he explained.
This will not be the first time that Räikkönen has participated in any of the NASCAR categories, since in 2011 – during one of his years away from F1 -, he participated in one round of the Nationwide Series and another in the Truck Series.
Räikkönen’s participation in the Trackhouse team is part of the team’s Project91, which tries to increase the international visibility of the category by recruiting stars for its car number 91.
Kimi raikkonen. Watkins Glen. PROJECT91.The Iceman returns. pic.twitter.com/4SSrQPjynQ
— PROJECT91 (@THProject91) May 26, 2022
“I have been a huge fan of Kimi for a long time. I have followed his career since he made his Formula 1 debut with Sauber,” said team owner Justin Marks. “One of the highlights of my career as an F1 fan was racing against him at Charlotte in 2011.
“I know he was interested in NASCAR and had raced before, and I thought if I explained to him what this project was like, he’d be interested in being a part of it,” he adds.
Räikkönen will now have several months to prepare for Watkins Glen in mid-August. The Finn plans to test the car in a test and also take part in practice sessions in the simulator.