Kimi Raikkonen set to return to Monaco for a charity football game
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Kimi Raikkonen retired from Formula 1 at the end of last year after an illustrious career – the crown jewel of which was his victory in the 2007 Drivers’ Championship when he was at Ferrari. He beat out stiff competition from McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, beating both by 1 point (110 to the 109 of the McLaren duo).
The ‘Iceman’ will join names like Fernando Alonso, Charles Leclerc, and Max Verstappen among other numerous famed current and former drivers, in the annual ‘World Stars Football Match’. He will be playing on the side of the ‘All-Star Formula 1 Drivers’. This team will be coached by former Milan and Juventus winger Oscar Damiani.
Watch: Kimi Raikkonen – Football Skill Compilation
This team will be facing off against the ‘Star Team for the Children’, which will include names like Prince Albert II of Monaco, former Mercedes driver and WDC Nico Rosberg, former MotoGP champ Max Biaggi, AS Roma football legend Francesco Totti, and Greek tennis star Stefanos Tsitsipas. The helm of the star team will be taken by former Valencia and Leicester City coach, Claudio Ranieri, who most recently managed Watford.
The ‘Star Team For the Children’ initiative was created by Prince Albert II of Monaco, in 1993. They have held more than 100 sports and social events, and the purpose of the ‘team’ is to collect funds to help underprivileged children.
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“Formula 1 was never my life,” Kimi said about returning to the paddock.
Kimi Raikkonen had bid farewell to the sport after the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (which he, unfortunately, did not finish). Aside from the 2007 championship win, he finished on the top step on 21 occasions, and 103 times on the podium in 353 race entries.
After his retirement, Raikkonen expressed no desire to return to the Formula 1 paddock and told Bild that “I may never set foot in the paddock again. Formula 1 was never my life. There were always things that were more important to me. Nothing will change about that.”
Despite this, the Finn has remained in motorsport after his retirement from Formula One and is currently taking on the role of team principal on the Kawasaki Racing Team for the 2022 season of the Motocross World Championships.
While discussing retirement, Raikkonen had stated that is not racing that he grew tired of, but the demands of the sport – the constant travel and the tight schedule, especially. His main priority will be to spend more time with his family. Kimi seems to be enjoying family life after retirement and has taken to social media to post snippets from his life.
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Gunaditya Tripathi
(274 Articles Published)