Kimi Räikkönen was not afraid to extend his elbows out in Sunday’s race at COTA. (Photo: Cody Porter | The Podium Finish)
AUSTIN, Texas – While it has been 469 days since Kimi Räikkönen last competed in a Formula 1 race, he still has that fire to compete at a high level – in stock cars.
Recently, Räikkönen traded his familiar racing machines of F1, akin to a rocketship, to a NASCAR Cup Series seventh generation vehicle with some semblance to its high performance, street counterpart.
Whether it is an open wheel car that is constantly upgraded via developments to his No. 91 Onx Homes/iLOQ Chevrolet Camaro fielded by PROJECT91, Räikkönen does not mind extending his elbows out on the track to maximize his race day.
After the 43-year-old Espoo, Finland native made his Cup debut last August at the 2.45-mile Watkins Glen International, Räikkönen returned to stock car’s highest division at a familiar track – Circuit of the Americas.
On Friday, Räikkönen tallied the 32nd fastest time in his first time out in a slightly different Next Gen car compared to his Go Bowling at the Glen efforts. Namely, the shorter spoiler came into play for the 2007 F1 champion and his stock car counterparts.
Räikkönen hovered above the top-20 by merit until the craziness ensued at COTA. (Photo: John Arndt | r/NASCAR)
Prior to Saturday morning’s qualifying round, Räikkönen reflected on his upcoming efforts at the 3.41-mile, 20-turn road course.
“First of all, I’m happy to be back with the team, PROJECT91, and at the track that I know,” Räikkönen said. “Obviously, a lot different to how it feels. It’s the same track but it feels a lot different in an F1 car to a NASCAR car. A lot of the corners are more kind of straights in F1 because of the downforce.
“It gets a bit trickier in a NASCAR car. It’s nice to be back and it’s a lovely place to be here in Texas. Let’s hope we can do well. We will try to improve from (Friday and Saturday) and see what we do in the race.”
Unlike his experiences in F1, Räikkönen acknowledged the differences in team dynamics in NASCAR and F1 and the benefits of having more than one teammate in Ross Chastain and Daniel Suárez of Trackhouse Racing.
“In F1, it’s a lot of meetings and a lot of other stuff.,” he said. “Here, it’s a bit more relaxed. You kind of have the meetings, but it’s a different way. I don’t have the experience with the cars and all the details, so we had a meeting yesterday as a group, as a whole team, and it’s nice to listen and assess what they thought about the car and what they should do with the car.
“I think it sounds like everybody has similar difficulties with the cars here. The rear seems to be the tricky part in the highest bit but it’s good to have teammates and to hear what they’re saying and get some advice from them.”
Räikkönen may have applied some of the advice from his organizational teammates as he qualified 22nd, a few positions ahead of Jenson Button, the 2009 F1 champion.
The No. 91 team of Räikkönen service the PROJECT91 ride in lightning quick fashion. (Photo: Sean Folsom | The Podium Finish)
On Sunday afternoon, Räikkönen bided his time while avoiding some of the paint trading incidents that eliminated contenders like Bubba Wallace, Jimmie Johnson and Ty Dillon. Placing 29th and 32nd in Stages 1 and 2, Räikkönen found himself up to fourth in the final 10 laps due to a late race gamble.
Some of Räikkönen’s relative inexperience showed in the closing moments of the race, slipping outside of the top 10 inside of the final five laps.
By that point, Räikkönen went to the school of hard knocks with NASCAR competition. Similarly, Räikkönen was assessed with a 30-second penalty, dropping him to 29th place, the final position on the lead lap.
Despite the penalty, Räikkönen considered the positives of his second Cup start.
“Yeah, I think it was not too bad,” Räikkönen said. “I mean, the car behaved most most of the time pretty nicely. Just yeah, we got unlucky with two of the incidents that happened and, you know, got taken out two times. But it’s one of those things, unfortunately, in the end.
“I just had no tires left when it kept getting more restart, more restart. So I think after the spin that I had tires which was done. But yeah, it’s a shame because it kind of lay there. But every restart was just wrong place, wrong time.”
Certainly, Räikkönen and crew chief Darian Grubb gave it all they had, extracting the maximum from their No. 91 car and track position.
“Some of the cars had newer tires and it was a case of try to stay out of the issues in the first corners every time,” he said. “It looked like you are very good and then three corners later, somebody is going wrong directions. It’s a bit of a mess and luck involved. And I just got a bad, bad, bad hand there. But that’s how it is.”
Given the warm reception and his appeal with racing fans around the world, Räikkönen has taken to the NASCAR world with confidence and authenticity. Following the race, it was easy to ponder if the Finnish racer plans to compete in another NASCAR Cup Series race.
Presently, it is not known if Räikkönen will return to attempt his third Cup start. (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)
“I don’t know. I mean, nobody knows,” he said. “But yeah, it’s just a shame how it went in the end. But yeah, I think we did the right thing. We were there, but then we start how it was and we’ll see what the future brings. Right now, I have no clue.”
Before Räikkönen parted for points elsewhere, he took a brief moment to wipe the sweat from his brows and face from a hard day’s work. Aside from the hard racing and paint trading, Räikkönen showcased his grit and toughness especially with his cool suit malfunctioning in an otherwise muggy, humid afternoon in Austin, Texas.
“It was a long race,” Räikkönen said. “No, our cool suit didn’t work. Half of the race, it stopped working, so it was quite hot in the car. But yeah, it was fun apart from a few occasions when it was a bit nonsense in the restart. But that’s how it goes.”
