Räikkönen refused a multi-million contract in NASCAR

Before returning to Formula One, at a time when he claimed to have no plans beyond 2011, Kimi Räikkönen had explored many avenues. Alongside his commitment to the World Rally Championship, the Finn had a taste of endurance racing during a test drive aboard the Peugeot 908, but he primarily ventured across the Atlantic into NASCAR, where he participated in a few races in the Truck Series and Nationwide Series, the third and second divisions of the most-watched car racing championship in the land of Uncle Sam.

In an interview with Autosport, the Finn reveals that he turned down a multi-million dollar offer to commit full-time to NASCAR: « I really had a good time there, but the most important thing is that if you want to do it full-time, you have to move to the United States. If there had been fewer races and it was possible to stay in Europe, then I probably would have committed. »

Indeed, the Sprint Cup, NASCAR’s top division, includes no fewer than 36 events on the championship calendar, with only two races taking place on road courses. The saying goes that one eats NASCAR, sleeps NASCAR, and lives NASCAR, a formula that seems to perfectly suit Juan-Pablo Montoya, who gave up his F1 dreams to join NASCAR in 2006. However, for Kimi Räikkönen, who has always enjoyed a certain degree of freedom, the constraints imposed by the NASCAR schedule were too high, even if he doesn’t rule out the idea of making a return someday: « It’s an entirely different way of doing things. The teams are very professional, and I appreciated that. It’s something that would be nice to do again in the future. »

The Lotus driver also made a point of defending the North American stock car championship, often disregarded in Europe for being held on oval tracks seen as leveling the drivers’ talent: « The races were fun. You don’t really think about the fact that you’re just driving on an oval because there are so many cars you’re battling against. It seems very simple to take the wheel and be fast, but it’s the same as in Formula One: it’s the little details that make the difference. The gaps are so small that if you are a tenth slower, you are twenty places behind, so it’s still difficult to be at the front. »