Kimi Raikkonen rejected an offer from Ferrari and chose McLaren instead as he didn’t want to play second fiddle to Michael Schumacher.
Kimi Raikkonen rejected an offer from Ferrari in the 2002 season as he did not want to play the wingman of Michael Schumacher. The Finnish racing driver chose McLaren instead.
Raikkonen had begun his Formula 1 career in 2001 with Sauber. He finished the 2001 season with only 9 points.
At that time Ferrari had their star driver Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello behind its wheels. Schumacher had already won three championships when Raikkonen debuted in the sport. One of them was in 2000 with Barrichello as his teammate.
2001 ITALY
Kimi Raikkonen (Sauber) is announced as Mika Hakkinen’s replacement at McLaren. Kimi rejected an offer to move to Ferrari, whilst Mika announced his sabbatical.
We’re still awaiting Mika’s return to #F1 pic.twitter.com/HmBURm0FDx
— Motorsports in the 2000s & 1990s (@CrystalRacing) September 15, 2020
Schumacher was of course given preference in the team and Barrichello played his role of the second fiddle to the German. With both Ferrari and Schumacher being at the top of their performance there was no doubt that if Raikkonen had signed the deal, he would be in the same position as Barrichello.
Therefore he chose McLaren instead. Meanwhile, Schumacher went on to dominate the sport and won five consecutive championships until 2004.
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Kimi Raikkonen wanted to be the youngest-ever champion
The Finn’s manager at that time Steve Robertson said, “Opting for McLaren was 100 per cent the right move for Kimi. McLaren’s record speaks for itself and they give their drivers equal equipment.”
“Everybody knows the situation at Ferrari. While Michael is there, it is going to be a difficult place for any other driver to go to. We’ve seen what it’s been like for Rubens Barrichello. He has to accept Michael as number one. Kimi didn’t want that kind of role.”
“Kimi wants to be the youngest-ever world champion and he has three years to do it. He is confident he can with McLaren.”
Robertson continued: “Kimi knows what he has to do [in 2002]. Every driver is judged against his team-mate and Kimi understands that he has an outstanding team-mate in David Coulthard.”
“Kimi hopes to win races next year and take it on from there. He truly believes he can become F1’s youngest champion.”
Also Read: Kimi Raikkonen never took F1 seriously
