Watch: Iceman Kimi Raikkonen Competes Against His Son on Ice

With 349 starts to his name, Kimi Raikkonen had one of the longest careers in F1. Now, he is using all his experience to help his son, Robin Raikkonen, make a career in motorsport.

After retiring from F1 at the end of the 2021 season, Kimi decided to relocate to Italy to support Robin’s motorsport career, per La Gazzetta dello Sport. The Finn decided to invest time and money into Robin’s future after realizing how talented his son is.

Robin started to clinch podium positions in karting despite competing against drivers older than him, and has already won his first karting championship, all at the tender age of nine. As Robin continues to gain experience in karting, Kimi decided to give his son a unique test recently — karting on ice.

What is noticeable about Robin’s driving is that he managed to maintain control of his kart despite driving in treacherous conditions. In the video above, Robin can also be seen using the slippery surface to his advantage and drifting when required to make the turns.

What is also interesting about Kimi’s decision to kart on ice is that he is famously known as the Iceman. But how did he get this name?

Kimi Raikkonen’s calm demeanor and no-nonsense attitude

Calmness is not often a quality associated with F1 drivers, especially because of the adrenaline involved when they are racing at such high speeds. However, Raikkonen was brilliant in this aspect. He was able to handle pressure even at times when the nerves were running high among the rest of his team members.

And who can forget his famous radio message from the 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that perfectly explained his calm demeanor? “Just leave me alone, I know what to do,” was Kimi’s response to his Lotus engineer Simon Rennie when given advice on how to keep the fast-chasing Fernando Alonso behind him.

Ultimately, Raikkonen knew exactly what he was doing as he went on to win the race by a margin of less than a second. Moments such as these got him the nickname ‘Iceman’. Now, time will tell if Robin ever reaches the heights that his father reached and whether he too would have a similar kind of demeanor to Kimi.

Will Robin follow in his father’s footsteps?

Just like any other child, Robin too has big dreams. He wants to be the next Max Verstappen, per Gino Rosato, a member of Ferrari’s management team.

However, Kimi, who drove at the pinnacle of motorsport, understands what it takes to reach there and wants to move step by step. “We’ll see,” was Kimi’s reply when asked if his son would follow in his footsteps. “If something comes or not, who knows”.

For Kimi, the most important thing is that his son is enjoying karting. With Robin just nine, he indeed does have a long way to go before he can even think of competing in F1 or any other racing series.