A former producer of the cult TV show Top Gear once gave Kimi Räikkönen a dressing-down for his lack of enthusiasm – but in the end, the “Iceman” got his act together.
Kimi Räikkönen was known in the paddock for doing things his own way. Or not at all, if he didn’t feel like it. But as Andy Wilman, former executive producer of the cult British show Top Gear, has now revealed, the Finn once hit a brick wall with this attitude. Wilman revealed in a podcast that he even had to loudly reprimand the 2007 Formula 1 world champion because his performance on set left something to be desired.
The incident occurred during Räikkönen’s return to Formula 1 with Lotus, when he was scheduled to appear as a guest star in the “Star in a Reasonably Priced Car” segment on the in-house test track in Dunsfold. The conditions were typically British: wet and uncomfortable.
“Räikkönen came to the show,” Wilman recalls in the Midweek F1 podcast. “Everyone else did their laps, but when it was his turn, the track was wet. At first we thought, ‘Oh, this isn’t going to work.’ But then we said, ‘Okay, he’ll kick the car properly, it’s Kimi after all.’” But the reality was different.
Disillusionment at the stopwatch
Wilman wanted to know how the Finn was doing, so he went to Nick Dalton, the man in charge of timekeeping. “I asked him, ‘How’s he doing? How’s he getting on?’ And Nick just replied dryly, ‘Not great.’”
Räikkönen had apparently seen enough. The Finn headed straight for his motorhome and made preparations to end the working day early. “He disappeared into his trailer and just said, ‘That’s it, I’ve done enough laps,’” Wilman continued. “He wasn’t unfriendly, but his attitude was clear: ‘It’s raining, time to call it a day.’”
The problem for the producer was that the track was just starting to dry out: the ideal opportunity to significantly improve the time once again. But Räikkönen had already made himself comfortable.
“Iceman” in a recliner
When Wilman went to see the F1 star, he found him in a state of total relaxation. “I came in a little late, and there he was, stretched out in this huge TV chair like Joey from the TV series ‘Friends,’ and it was nice and warm inside,” Wilman describes the scene.
The producer initially tried to be diplomatic: “Kimi, it’s drying up outside. I can’t tell you your time, but it wasn’t brilliant and we both know you can go faster.” The Finn’s response was short and sweet: “No, I can’t.”
Even the suggestion that a glance out of the window would confirm the improved track conditions fell on deaf ears. “In an extremely bad mood, he hoisted himself up, looked out and said, ‘No, it’s not,’ before lying back down again,” Wilman recounts.
When the boss loses his temper
At that moment, the producer lost his patience. “I kind of lost my temper and really gave him a piece of my mind,” Wilman admits. He appealed to Räikkönen’s sense of honor and the expectations of the fans: “I told him, ‘There are so many people out there waiting for your comeback… and it will reflect on you if you don’t deliver here.’”
The dressing-down had the desired effect. The usually stoic Finn actually got out of his chair again. “He got up, went out, did a few more laps and was a good bit faster,” Wilman sums up with satisfaction. “That was the day I gave Kimi Räikkönen a piece of my mind.”
