Kimi Raikkonen responds as first post-F1 World Championship secured

Kimi Raikkonen is World Champion once again, but this time, as the Kawasaki Racing Team principal in Motocross.

From one World Champion to a newly-crowned peer, Raikkonen can emotionally connect to Romain Febvre, who has secured his second FIM World MXGP Motocross Championship title, and first with Raikkonen’s team.

Kimi Raikkonen celebrates first title as team principal

The season-ending ‘MXGP of Australia’, held at the Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin, set the scene for Febvre’s title success. After claiming fourth in race one, the second, and final race of the season was cancelled due to severe weather, as Febvre secured the crown.

The 31-year-old, from Épinal, France, had won his maiden crown back in 2015 in what was a remarkable debut season. The Frenchman burst onto the scene with Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube, securing the title with two rounds to spare.

A decade later, Febvre, now representing KRT, has returned to the summit, an achievement which gave Raikkonen his first championship as team principal.

Having retired from Formula 1 after the 2021 season, Raikkonen took on the team boss role at KRT the following year.

Raikkonen became Formula 1 World Champion for the first and only time in 2007. His achievement means he remains the most recent Ferrari Drivers’ Champion to be crowned.

“Having raced in and won the Formula 1 World Championship, I understand how Romain must feel at this moment,” said Raikkonen as he reacted to Febvre’s accomplishment.

“I want to add my sincere congratulations to him, the Team, Kawasaki and also all the Kawasaki fans globally.

“We came into this project seeking to win and, as a team, that is what we have achieved. This has been the goal for me and Antti [Pyrhönen, team manager] since the day we started – Mission Accomplished!

“Our thanks go to Romain, Pauls [Jonass] and Mathis [Valin] for their dedication and commitment. After celebrating we will focus on repeating our success in MXGP in 2026 and also capturing the MX2 title as well.”

Ultimately, the MX2 crown went to Simon Längenfelder of Red Bull KTM.

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Reacting to his second title win, Febvre said: “I really don’t know what to say; this is such an emotional moment.

“My ultimate goal for the last ten years has been to be champion again and now I have achieved my goal with Kawasaki.

“It’s been a tough year but we were prepared and we brought it home; my thanks to Kawasaki, the entire KRT team, Monster Energy and all of our sponsors.”

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