In 2001 a quiet guy from Finland and a teenager from Spain lined up in Formula 1 for the first time, touted as leaders of the next generation. Within six years both were World Champion. Two decades on from their debuts, and now into their early 40s, they are still racing in Formula 1, having entered the most grands prix, 343 and 326 respectively. MotorsportWeek.com sat down, separately, with Kimi Räikkönen and Fernando Alonso.
Max Verstappen’s ascent to Formula 1 aged 17 re-wrote the rule book in 2015, but 14 years previously the presence of Räikkönen and Alonso on the starting grid was also eye-catching. Both had minimal experience in junior formula. Alonso stepped up after just two seasons in Euro Open by Nissan and International F3000. Räikkönen leapt from Formula Renault UK straight to Formula 1. Alonso was 19, and became Formula 1’s third-youngest racer ever.
“It was not normal,” Alonso explains of his rapid rise. “And we didn’t have any simulator or anything where you could prepare or learn the circuits. In fact, that year the track walks were just to learn the circuits. It was very different from now; I think it was more challenging from what it is now. A young driver now gets very prepared now and back then we were not prepared for sure.”
Alonso had already been taken under the wing of Flavio Briatore, who was in charge of the team that was transforming from Benetton to Renault, and was placed at backmarkers Minardi. Räikkönen, meanwhile, had been snapped up by midfield team Sauber, after a successful test at Mugello the previous September.
“Luckily I’d done one European [Formula Renault] round at Mugello, so I knew the track at least, which was helpful,” says Räikkönen, who first saw Formula 1 on TV as a youngster in Finland, watching the final throes of Keke Rosberg’s career.
“It was the first time I’d seen an F1 car on track, live, and then I was driving myself. It was completely different to what I was used to with Formula Renault.”
Räikkönen deemed the straight-line speed of an F1 car “not that big a deal” but found other aspects challenging.
“It was the braking, the grip that you had, and more the G-forces, there wasn’t power steering, so it was quite a heavy car to drive,” he reminiscences. “My neck couldn’t take it and that was more the challenging part than the driving. For sure the first day everything kind of happened too fast but then the next day everything slowed down and it was much more normal. The brain gets used to the speed and everything.”
Räikkönen bypassed the customary Formula 3 and Formula 3000 levels, effectively stepping up to Formula 1 on probation. It drew attention in some quarters.
“I’m sure there were,” he says on whether some senior figures were opposed to his presence. “There’s always going to be people, doesn’t matter when it is.” His demeanour shifts, breaking out into a chuckle, notable even beneath a mask. “But I don’t read that many stories, I don’t care to be honest. I didn’t care those days and I don’t care now!
“I’m sure there were a lot of stories that some people didn’t want me to have the Super Licence, some people said I only had it for X amount of races. I don’t know the true story, but I had it for the whole season. Can you only give it [for] some races? I’ve no idea, but I got it, even if it was for the first two or three races, I still have it! So it worked out okay.”
Räikkönen entered the season with a car capable of fighting for points – then awarded only to the top six – but Alonso could not even be sure of competing. Minardi was going through financial difficulties amid an eventual takeover process by Paul Stoddart.
“It was stressful at the beginning,” Alonso explains. “We were supposed to be ready for Australia but then in the last moment there were financial problems. It was not so clear that we would be in Australia.
“There were rumours that we would start the championship in race three, and miss the first two.
“Then in the last moment Paul bought the team so he was very interested to have the car running in Australia, as he was from there. And because of that it was a last push to go to Australia, but with no testing or anything, so it was a last-minute call. It was stressful, in terms of how safe you were for the next weekend, but eventually everything was a little bit calmer for the rest of the season.”
If Alonso’s build-up was nervy, Räikkönen’s was not – helped by his laconic approach to life.
“Obviously, in a way, [Formula 1 is] another race but obviously it was a lot different to what I was used to from Formula Renault,” he says.
“It is a new format, you had to get used to the starts, all kinds of things – new tracks, new country and everything. But I’ve never been worried too much. I just take my backpack and go, and see what comes out! That’s what I usually do and I don’t worry about it as it’s a bit pointless [to worry].”
Getting accustomed to Formula 1 was a challenge faced by the duo, who joined the likes of Michael Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen on the grid, but Alonso in particular felt a sense of doubt.
“It was a shock always when you arrive into Formula 1 as there are many differences compared to the younger categories,” he says. “You have to get used to the media, the attention, the demanding schedule in the weekend, the level of technology, and [work] with the engineers.
“[Being] 19 years old, being the first time there, it was a shock for sure. I was thinking that Formula 1 was not my place, probably. I was coming from a very small town in Spain, no Formula 1 background or anything. I wanted to be World Champion one day and to achieve the maximum but it was like a very optimistic dream at that time.”
When did Alonso fully feel he belonged?
“Probably… in 2012 or 13,” he says openly. “Yeah. To be honest, after 10 years. I was coming from a modest family, and all the Formula 1 environment it was… not fake, but it was a strange world for me.”
Räikkönen, meanwhile, quickly realised one aspect of his life that was going to irreversibly change.
“Obviously the media was completely different than in Formula Renault – there used to be one guy asking you something, then ‘goodbye’, so it was much nicer! I’m not a big fan of it but it’s always been [there] and always going to be part of it.” Räikkönen also had to get used to “how many people there are in the team”, as well as the rigorous testing schedule that existed in the early 2000s. “It was all new…but I didn’t stress about it, you know? I did it, and it worked out.”
It did work out. Räikkönen was in demand by the middle of 2001 and was ultimately signed as a replacement for compatriot Hakkinen at McLaren.
“For sure without the good results the McLaren thing wouldn’t have happened,” Räikkönen says. “Maybe Ferrari would have happened [instead], at some point there were talks. I had a contract with Sauber so that was a kind of tricky situation but it all got sorted out in the way – and it was important for me and the Robertsons [his management team] – that I was not just leaving. [Engine supplier] Mercedes [and] McLaren, they took care [of it]. Sauber got something good out of it, so for sure it wasn’t ideal for them but they got a lot of good things out of it. But the results helped for sure – without the good results [in 2001] I wouldn’t be here today.”
Alonso’s performances, despite the limitations of Minardi’s PS01 – “nice to drive and more competitive than expected sometimes” – also captured the attention. He tested extensively with Renault through 2002 before returning to a race seat with the rising French marque in 2003.
“It was important to deliver, to be consistent, to keep working on a high level of discipline,” Alonso says on the importance of his rookie year. “Because all those things, they get spread in the paddock quite quickly. It was important that the right message arrived in the first year to convince Flavio and Renault to give me a chance.”
Their careers have intertwined; Alonso’s maiden pole in Malaysia in 2003 was followed the next day by Räikkönen’s first win, while Räikkönen finished second to first-time winner Alonso in Hungary. Alonso beat Räikkönen to the 2005 crown, doubling up in 2006, and Räikkönen then succeeded him as champion in 2007. They even overlapped as team-mates in 2014, at Ferrari. Both have had two-year spells outside of Formula 1 to explore other categories (Räikkönen 2010/11, Alonso 2019/20) and are now with teams where they have prior experience. Alonso is with Alpine – formerly Renault – while Räikkönen is in year three of stint two at Alfa Romeo, effectively Sauber.
“From the very beginning I was linked with Renault, and this team obviously means a lot to me, and for my career” says Alonso. “And even if it changed a lot in 20 years it remains the same DNA in a way, it’s a team that is a little bit more of a family environment than a team. It is very serious about performance, and professional, but in a relaxed environment. So that’s the same now. I didn’t know how I’d find the team in 2020 after 10 years [away] but I found the team exactly the same.”
Räikkönen explains that the Alfa Romeo-branded Sauber team has “obviously got a lot bigger from when I was there the first time. The factory got a lot bigger; the wind tunnel was a new thing. I think it was maybe 120 people, when I was there [in 2001], and now it is between 400 and 500 people. But that’s what it takes to survive in F1, and obviously it is a different name but there are a lot of the same people and it is still called Sauber Engineering. So it is nice to see that the heritage is still there, what Peter Sauber built a long, long time ago.”
Neither of them would have ever envisaged still being around 20 years later.
“I think I have the desire, and the love, for racing, from my side… I think from total dedication into the sport, physically, mentally, always trying to deliver and achieve the maximum,” says Alonso on why he is still around. His recent exploits underline that he is certainly still performing at a high level. “It is also down to the confidence and the trust from teams that they put on myself. I’ve been lucky enough to have the trust of many team principals, many teams, and thanks to performance as well they had that level of trust.”
Räikkönen was “just happy to be here” in 2001 and “wasn’t thinking about the next year or the year after. Let’s say, I don’t know, in the mid-2000s, if somebody would say I would still be driving [in 2021] I would for sure tell them that they are crazy. But that’s how it went. Obviously, I went away for a few years, and then went to do some NASCAR, the Nationwide, then there I raced against people and wanted to do racing [again], it was fun, and the option was coming back [to Formula 1].”
Alonso’s one-plus-one deal with Alpine means he will almost certainly still be around in 2022, when new regulations are introduced, having regarded the reset as a fresh opportunity in Formula 1.
Räikkönen, though, does not have a contract with Alfa Romeo beyond 2021 – so is there anything else he still wants to explore within racing?
“I haven’t really thought about the future at all,” he says. Unlike some of his counterparts on the grid, who delve into smoke and mirrors, you know this is the truth.
“Like I said earlier I don’t really make plans. I don’t want to know when the next race is! My wife tells me, I ask her ‘when is my flight’ and I go – I pack up my stuff and go! I don’t really want to know too many things further away because if it is a PR thing I just get pissed off otherwise! It’s better to know exactly a few hours before when you need to be on a plane.
“I’ve never been a guy who makes long, long future plans. I’m not sure. I mean maybe I do nothing, [go] on racing, or maybe I just do go karts with my son if he still fancies doing it, or maybe I do some rallies, or whatever, I’ve no idea.”
Between them they have 669 Formula 1 races, three world titles, 53 wins and a wealth of memories. They’ve experienced the highs and lows – but would either have done anything differently if given another chance?
“If I change something of what I did in the last 20 years, it would not be me,” asserts Alonso. “Because I never did anything in 20 years that I was forced, I was always myself. And sometimes I know that it was not helpful, or being not correct, maybe, outside the car, or something. But if I change that I would be a fake person and will not be who I am. So it’s okay.”
“I wouldn’t change anything because if you change one thing the whole thing might be different,” outlines Räikkönen.
“Honestly I wouldn’t change anything. What I’ve done, or [if I could have] made some results better, that’s how it works. Sometimes it would have been better to be a bit luckier or not have had things break, or to do less mistakes here and there, but that’s how it is sometimes. If you do it long enough you can fit in anything – good, bad, weird things. I’m happy with where my life is now.”
