Kimi Raikkonen is a team principal now

Just over a month after Kimi Raikkonen called time on his Formula 1 career and drove off into the sunset, the Finn is gainfully employed again. Only now it’s in motocross.

Kimi has long been into this avenue of motorsport - having previously set up his own team evolved from his WRC efforts in 2011 - but he won't be the one doing the racing on this occasion.

Nope, Raikkonen has in fact been appointed team principal of the Kawasaki Racing Team, which competes in the Motocross World Championship; the highest tier there is. He’ll be the team’s version of Toto Wolff/Christian Horner (delete according to personal preference), running things alongside team manager Antti Pyrhonen.

Can you imagine Kimi sitting through a Zoom interview, being asked what skills he’d bring to the role? And where he’d see himself in five years? Us neither. Still, he’s got the job and let’s face it, his CV probably did all the required talking.

“It’s no secret that, for me, one of my great passions in life for many years has been motocross but this team is not what you might call a hobby; it’s very serious, very focused and we aspire to be the best we possibly can,” explained the man himself. “Now I have retired from racing I will be able to spend more time on this project; not on the daily issues but more from a strategic point of view using my experience of how teams work and what creates success on the world stage.

“Everyone including myself is delighted that Kawasaki has chosen us to be the factory team. I know that the chance of success is always greater with direct factory support so this translates into a great opportunity for us as the new Kawasaki Racing Team in MXGP.”

Last year we published 10 reasons why Top Gear loves Kimi Raikkonen. Better make that 11.