Red Bulletin Kimi Special: Rebel With A Cause

Note I’ve written out the word-for-word script of this interview below, including the picture captions. Please do acknowlegde I spent over an hour typing this out and would appreciate a credit source back to this entry if you wish to share it on your personal blog or fansite. You’re able to copy and paste the actual text from the pdf file, however for some reason it wasn’t allowing me to do so which is why I wrote it out, to get it to you as soon as possible! Thank you.

What does Kimi Raikkonen do away from the track? One minute
he’s Peter Fonda in Easy Rider, the next he’s Bill Murray in Stripes. But the
character Kimi really wants to be is Captain Jack Sparrow. He talks to Adam
Hay-Nicholls about his life at home, his big screen alter-ego and his maverick
spirit.

Kimi Raikkonen is different to most other racing drivers –
and certainly different to most Formula One World Champions. Michael Schumacher
may race bikes these days and Jacques Villeneuve may occasionally strum the
guitar, but neither has anywhere near has the breadth of extra-curricular
interests that the Iceman has. Nor do they have as many toys…

You’ve got two amazing Walz Hardcore motorcycles that were
custom-made for you. How involved were you in designing them?

Kimi: I was quite involved with the first one, the black
one. The new one looks similar – I just told them to paint it red and put some
Ferrari logos on it. There are some subtle differences under the skin too. I
love them to bits, otherwise I wouldn’t have bought them. They’ve been
exhibited at a few shows, but they’re for riding. I take them out to Switzerland
and I ride to Monza every year with
my friends. They have similar tastes in bikes to me.

Both bikes have ‘Iceman’ written across the fuel tank. If
you park one of them outside a shop don’t you worry that there will be a crowd
of fans standing around it when you get back?

Kimi: No no, I never just leave they because they’ve got no
key so anyone could just take them! I have to park them in gated or guarded
carparks or else they will disappear. Besides, I don’t use them to go shopping,
I ride them simply to ride. So we’ll go off on a road trip for a couple of days
and I won’t leave the saddle. I like to go over the mountains in Italy
and let rip along lakeside roads. You can’t get better than that.

At the Amber fashion show charity auction you paid 200,000
Euros for Sharon Stone’s Corvette Stingray. What other toys do you keep in your
garage?

Kimi: I’ve got some other bikes, probably 10 in total.
Mostly motocross bikes. I have some other cars, including a Ferrari Enzo – my
only Ferrari – and skidoos. I have a Hummer and a few Cadillacs including an
Escalade pick-up. I’ve just got a new Fiat 500, which I really like. And when I
went to see a DTM race a while back I took a fancy to the Mercedes DTM car and
bought that.

Your first car was a Lada right?

Kimi: Yeah I sold it a long time ago to a friend. Ladas are
good cars – they never break down.

Did you ever try to take it racing?

Kimi: No, but I did something similar with a Beetle. I did some
racing with cars you can bash into eachother – not banger racing exactly, it
was on sand. I had this Beetle kitted out with a roll cage, then I rolled it
four times or something and it didn’t work anymore! Yeah, I pretty much killed
it.

And you own a Mini don’t you?

Kimi: Yeah, a very old one. I’ve been meaning to fix it up
for years, but I just haven’t found the time.

What’s missing from your garage?

Kimi: Nothing. Instead, I need to be getting rid of some
stuff! The thing is, I don’t want to get something and not use it. I use all of
these toys all the time, especially the motocross bikes. If I find I don’t need
something, I’ll sell it. And often it’s easier just to rent.

Do you get to play ice-hockey much these days?

Kimi: I play every winter. I grew up with ice-hockey, played
it all the time as a kid and I like to keep in practice. I don’t have one team
who I’m support massively but I have a lot of friends who play in the NHL and
in Finland.

Don’t you just watch it for the fights?

Kimi: Well those are of course a bonus! You don’t see so
much of it in Finland
because they penalize you heavily for it But the fights are part of the game, I
think, and it spices it up a bit. I went to see the Olympic finals when they
were in Turin and I’ve been to see
the NHL in the States. I wish I could get over there more often, but it’s just
finding the time. I try to see the matches on TV, but in Europe
they’re shown at 3am. That’s not a
problem if I’m at home and I’ve nothing to get up for, but on a grand prix
weekend I can’t really stay up. And a lot of the hotels we stay in don’t have
the channels.

You say you played a lot as a kid. But what were you like at
school? Teacher’s pet?

Kimi: No, bad! Not good…I hated school – I was interested in
different things. I only liked sport and lessons where you did practical
things.

Aside from F1, what sport do you most enjoy?

Kimi: Definitely snowmobile racing. But this winter it was
tough because there was no snow except in Lapland. And
it takes a while to get there. If I could do it in Switzerland,
I could do it every day, but it’s illegal there.

Why on earth do you live there then?

Kimi: No, I like it, but for sure, if you talk about motor
racing it’s difficult. It’s very strict there but they they let you do
motocross and it’s the same in Italy
where, in a lot of places, skidoos are banned. For some reason, it’s a
difficult sport to do. Finland
is one of the only places where you don’t get shit for it.

It’s pretty dangerous though. Have you ever broken anything?

Kimi: I’ve been injured many times, but not so bad that I
couldn’t walk afterwards. For sure, I have had massive bruises on my back and
everything, but so far I haven’t broken anything. As long as I can get back up
and jump in a Formula One car, that’s the important thing.

You’ve done a year of compulsory military service too. I’m
guessing you weren’t so keen on all that discipline.

Kimi: Yeah I did a lot of things there that I shouldn’t
have, and I didn’t like the fact that you couldn’t do this and had to do that…

Sounds a bit like Mclaren…

Kimi: [Laughing] Yeah, when I look back on my year in the
army it was a good time, but when I was there I hated it because I couldn’t go
where I wanted and I’d get shit from people. I still laugh with my friends
about some of the stuff we got up to.

What mischief did you get up to? Were you lke Bill Murray in
Stripes – the joker of the regiment?

Kimi: Yeah something like that. I probably shouldn’t go into
too much detail! Anyway, I was 21 then and I was still in the army when I did
my first F1 test with Sauber in 2000.

What did you shoot?

Kimi: Nobody so far!

No, I mean what weaponry?

Kimi: We all had AK47s. I’ve actually shot quite a different
few types of gun.

I remember at the Red Bull party in Sao
Paulo last year, you celebrated your title by getting
behind the bar and making everyone drinks. So what cocktail do you most enjoy
making?

Kimi: Not really cocktails. I’ll choose shots, thanks. Or
maybe a Vodka and cola.

Have you seen that YouTube clip where you fell off your
yacht?

Kimi: I’ve probably seen all of my YouTube clips. I’ve been
involved with all of them certainly! Yeah, well, there are a lot of things that
don’t end up on there, and that’s a good thing!

If you could be any character from any movie, who would you
be?

Kimi: Captain Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean
[Kimi roars with laughter]. He seems to know how to have a good time. I might
need to drink a lot of rum to get into the role! I love movies like this.

If a time machine were invented, where would you travel to?

Kimi: If you’re talking about racing, then a time that was
more fun, like the 1970s. I could have enjoyed it. And before that, maybe the
Wild West.

Finally, do you think you’re an easy person to interview?

Kimi: I don’t mind what people think too much. If they ask
nice questions then yes, but for sure if they ask stupid questions I won’t
answer and they will think I’m a dickhead. But it goes both ways. If everyone’s
nice to eachother it’s much easier.

Picture captions: Mark of a Champion – Six reasons why we
love Kimi…

1. Well-dressed Kimi

In a bid for anonymity, Kimi likes to conduct his business
in a gorilla suit. He chose to wear the costume for a speed boat race, entering
under his nom de guerre, James Hunt. Raikkonen and two friends competed in the
Hanko Poker run, a society event where crews speed around the Finnish port,
collecting poker cards that they play with. However when the ape tried to moor
the boat, the skipper yelled “Kimi, don’t tie it like that,” and proceeded to
give him a lesson in knots. Cover blown.

2. Inappropriate Kimi

It was meant to be the glorious swansong of the man Kimi
would succeed at Ferrari. Michael Schumacher’s last race, at Interlagos in
2006, saw the German presented with a trophy by Pele. All the drivers turned up
to watch – apart from Kimi. Moments later, ITV’s Martin Brundle found the Finn
hanging out beside his car. Why had he missed Schumi’s farewell? “I was having
a shit,” he disclosed. Well, he was number two on the grid. (YouTube: Funny +
Kimi + Brazil)

3. Gambling Kimi

The Finn’s performance at the 2005 European Grand Prix left
all his rivals in the shade. But one small mistake flat-spotted the right-front
tyre, and it would cost him dear. With Fernando Alonso close behind, Kimi and
his team faced a tough decision: pit and settle for six points, or stay out and
go for broke. Sadly, that’s exactly what the McLaren suspension did on the very
last lap when the tyre failed spectacularly. Kimi very nearly hit Jenson
Button’s BAR as he spun down the straight in a shower of carbon and rubber. No
points, but no regrets either. (YouTube: Kimi + Nurburgring + 2005)

4. Knife-throwing Kimi

German TV executives realized that, if they were to get Kimi
on their programme, they might need to rethink the standard sit-down chat show
format. Instead, they set up a circus big top-tent and gave Kimi a motocross
bike to ride infront of the audience. But the piece de resistance was when he
attempted to throw a set of stake knives at a member of the audience – almost.
He may have been a great shot in the Finnish army, but his knife skills are a
bit rusty. (YouTube: Kimi + Circus)

5. Kamikaze Kimi

Suzuka ’05 saw Raikkonen’s most impressive performance to
date. He started 17^th on the grid and fought his way through the
field. Giancarlo Fisichella thought he had 10 points when he started the final
lap. But Kimi had been planning a dramatic finale. As they raced down the
straight to the first turn, Kimi got a good tow, went as far to the outside and
he could, rode the rev limiter, flickered right and shot right cross the front
of the Renault, snatching the lead with less than a minute and a half to spare.
(YouTube: Japan
+ Kimi + Fisichella)

6. Party Kimi

Raikkonen first gained tabloid notoriety when he showed a London
lap dancer the real reason he wears a six point harness. He lost his
driving license in Budapest in 2006, but this had nothing to do with a
road traffic incident. Kimi had been a Red Bull boat party and was
swinging his bag above his head, showering the VIP room with cash and
cards. Fortunately everything, including his passport, was returned the
next morning. But Kimi’s finest drunken moment was the yacht party
where our hero tried to throw something at the crowd below, but lost
his balance, falling off the fly deck and onto his head. (YouTube: Kimi
+ Yacht + Fall)