At 41 years of age and 332 starts, Kimi Räikkönen is not only the oldest driver on the grid, but also the most experienced in F1 history. However, it could all have gone south for him even before his young career began in 2001.
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It is known that Peter Sauber, owner of the Sauber F1 Team, discovered a relatively unknown Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn won the British Formula Renault winter series in 1999. In September 2000, for example, Sauber arranged a private F1 test for him.
He clearly impressed her; so much so that they had to keep his identity a secret in order to fend off potential competitors – by calling him “Eskimo” instead of his real name. After they decided to give this inexperienced driver their F1 seat.
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“Why not do this when you believe it and think it is right and it could be a fantastic idea? You do it, ”said Monisha Kaltenborn, former team boss, in the F1 podcast“ Beyond The Grid ”.
Before becoming the first female team leader in F1 history, Monisha was in charge of the Sauber team’s legal affairs. And there was a major hurdle that threatened to prevent Raikkonen’s F1 debut. Having only completed 23 races, there were some concerns about granting him the FIA super license –
“We felt very quickly that there was a kind of resistance to granting him the license to race at this point. And it wasn’t easy to convince the FIA to actually take this step. “
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How was Sauber able to sort out Kimi Raikkonen’s F1 license?
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As we all know today, they were finally able to deal with the problem when he is currently driving for their rebranding (Alfa Romeo). Did Monish step in and talk to then FIA President Max Mosley to get his super license?
She replied: “No, actually we didn’t take care of the matter personally at Sauber. I would say we got help from people on a team that is not far from us in Switzerland. I won’t take the name, but it wasn’t too far! “
MONZA, ITALY – Kimi Raikkonen from Finland and Ferrari watch in the garage during the final practice session for the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix at Autodromo di Monza in Monza, Italy. (Photo by Mark Thompson / Getty Images)
Very interesting. We wonder who this external messiah was who helped Sauber. Thanks to them, the Finn was able to become world champion with Ferrari in 2007.
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The post Ex-Sauber boss explains the “resistance” Kimi Raikkonen was exposed to in order to prevent his F1 debut first appeared on monter-une-startup.
