AUSTIN, Texas — Kimi Raikkonen gave exactly the sort of response you would have expected after ending his five-year wait for a Formula One victory.
Raikkonen got the jump on pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton into Turn 1 at Austin and executed two brilliantly-managed stints before holding off Max Verstappen to win. It was his first visit to the top step of the podium since the 2013 Australian Grand Prix — a gap of 2,044 days — and he celebrated by saying: « f—ing finally! » over his team radio after taking the chequered flag.
When asked if he was confident he would ever win again for Ferrari before his move to Sauber next year, Raikkonen said: « I don’t know. It’s not a big deal for me, it’s a much bigger deal for a lot of the people.
« If it comes, it comes; if it doesn’t, it really doesn’t change my life one bit.
« I’m happy we are here and that we win but I think the biggest difference is the way people look at you. If you look at people in a different way if they win or not, it doesn’t make a lot of difference in my mind. But obviously I’m happy, just proving some people wrong it’s enough fun for me. »
The victory was the 21st of Raikkonen’s career and his first for Ferrari since the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix, during his original stint with the team.
http://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/25047619/kimi-raikkonen-first-win-2044-days-change-my-life-one-bit
