Thaindian News

London, Feb. 14 (ANI): Kimi Raikkonen has admitted that he quit Formula One because it became predictable and boring after a point.

The 2007 world champ, who turned down the chance to rejoin McLaren after being pushed out at Ferrari, said he is not jealous of current champions, as the sport is too cold and there is a lack of friendship.

“I was in Formula One for a long time and, right now, I don’t miss it. In F1, testing and everything is exactly the same. You go to the same circuits and do lap after lap. The only variable is whether it rains or not,” News of the World quoted Raikkonen, as saying.

“The WRC is more open than F1, it’s more relaxed and there’s a warmer feeling. The teams are friends together. In rallying, everything is completely different to Formula One. There are so many variables - different conditions, different roads and different surfaces,” he added.

“It is a big challenge. Every corner is different. In Formula One that’s not the case.”

Raikkonen is not excited by the return of F1 legend Schumacher, who will race for Mercedes GP under the guidance of Ross Brawn.

“For me, it doesn’t matter who is racing in Formula One now. Michael probably started to miss it and he has got a good option now - so it’s good for him. Let’s see how he does,” Raikkonen said.

Raikkonen also admitted he hasn’t even bothered to monitor F1’s first pre-season tests in Valencia and Jerez.

Fernando Alonso - the man who took Raikkonen’s seat at Ferrari - dominated the time sheets at Valencia, but Raikkonen said: “I only see the times in the newspapers the following day.

“I have this new challenge and I am more interested in this right now. But even when I raced in F1 I never really looked at what time everyone did because you know the details before the next race,” he added. (ANI)