Kimi Raikkonen says his son, Robin, has already started outpacing him in go-karts after the pair took to the track during lockdown.
Formula One returns this weekend after a four-month break caused by the coronavirus pandemic, and drivers have been taking to the track in everything from go-karts to old F1 cars to prepare.
Raikkonen, who drives for the Alfa Romeo team and has not driven an F1 car since testing in February, combined his training with trips to the kart track with his 5-year-old son.
With his son in his own kart and Raikkonen driving a rental, the 2007 world champion says he is already struggling to keep up with Robin.
“I don’t know how to compare, but he seems to enjoy it,” Raikkonen said during F1’s media day in Austria. “Some days… we do more laps than others. But with kids, one day they like to do one thing, the next the other. So long as he enjoys it, that’s the main thing. With me in rental karts, I can’t keep up anymore! Apart from that, it’s been good.”
At 40, Raikkonen is the oldest driver on the Formula One grid, and his Alfa Romeo contract is due to expire at the end of the year. Asked if F1’s plan to delay a major regulation change from 2021 to 2022 had changed his outlook on his future, Raikkonen said he had not made up his mind.
“That’s how it’s going to be with the rules, but it doesn’t dictate what happens in the future,” he said. “It’s right that I need an answer before next year starts, but I don’t know.
“We haven’t done a single race. A very odd situation this year, we’ll wait and see.”
