Kimi Raikkonen has always been a fan favorite since making his debut back in 2001. From the very get-go, it was clear that he was a unique talent, and produced some amazing performances leading up to his only World Championship win in 2007.
Other than his scintillating driving, Raikkonen is also popular for his personality off the track. The Finn’s habit of speaking less and giving curt, blunt replies to journalists in interviews has always cracked fans up. In fact, some of his most memorable moments in F1 have come in the form of team radios or in press conferences.
Kimi Raikkonen Team Radio: The Ultimate Collection 😎🎬🍿
So many brilliant Iceman moments from down the years – watch the complete collection now! ⬇️#F1
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 2, 2021
The fact that Raikkonen does not talk much has been taken for granted. Up until his final F1 race in December 2021, his personality remained unchanged, but there’s actually a reason why the 43-year-old doesn’t talk much.
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Kimi Raikkonen has above-average intelligence
According to Raikkonen, he didn’t speak a lot even when he was a child. The fact that other kids around him spoke a lot more than he did, concerned his parents. As a result, at the young age of six, they took him over to the therapist, who then revealed the real reason why he was so quiet.
In an interview with Der Spiegel, he stated that the therapist told his parents that he had above-average intelligence. ‘Your child’s intelligence is above average. This might be the reason for his silence,’ was the therapist’s evaluation.
Raikkonen was given a coordination exercise during his visit which adults take approximately three hours to solve. The future Ferrari driver, however, managed to shock everyone in the room by completing it in just 20 minutes!
Raikkonen explains how he expresses his emotions & feelings
Raikkonen is well known among the F1 community as the ‘Iceman’. This nickname has stuck with him for very long, and it is because of his personality, where he often appears to be emotionless ahead of an F1 race weekend.
However, Raikkonen admitted that he does have his own way of expressing his feelings. He prefers to keep them away from the camera and racing track, since F1 isn’t the place to let loose, in his opinion.
“Everybody has feelings,” the Espoo-born driver said. “But they are different to each other. When I drive I’m very concentrated, because feelings don’t belong to the track. There’s no time for them.”
