Kimi Raikkonen’s son set to join Red Bull driver programme
Ace Raikkonen is set to join Red Bull's junior driver programme.
Ace Raikkonen, the son of 2007 F1 World Champion Kimi, is set to be announced as joining Red Bull’s driver programme.
The young Finn has carved out a burgeoning career in karting, and his motorsport career is about to take on a new level of focus as he will be announced as part of Red Bull’s driver programme.
Robin ‘Ace’ Raikkonen set for Red Bull driver programme
Robin ‘Ace’ Raikkonen, the 11-year-old son of Kimi, is set to be confirmed by Red Bull before the Madrid Grand Prix, with the youngster having had discussions with several team’s junior programmes, PlanetF1.com has learned.
Raikkonen, who currently races in karting and won the recent seventh round of the Rotax Max Challenge Italia at Laghi, occupies second in the championship based on net points.
He would be the runaway leader based on total points but, with the four weakest results struck out over the season, his consistent form has meant some strong points finishes are not included in his tally.
Accompanied by his family for his racing exploits, Raikkonen Jnr. is frequently shown on his father’s social media channels, with the 11-year-old fondly referred to as one of his ‘Ice Cubes’, in reference to his own ‘Iceman’ nickname.
With the Raikkonen family having moved to Italy, Kimi now serves as a mechanic for Ace’s karting exploits, but hasn’t dared make a prediction on whether or not his son may make it to F1 – not that he’s putting any pressure on him to do so, the Finn being well-known, and highly regarded, for being authentic as a sportsman during his 20-year career and not pushing pressure on his children in their life pursuits.
“Ah, he’s enjoying,” Raikkonen said last year of his son’s karting, with an earlier interview in 2020 revealing how the 2007 F1 World Champion was already struggling to keep up with his son in rental karts at just five-years-old.
“Everything is going nicely. We’ll see. If something comes or not, who knows? But he’s having fun – that’s the main thing.”
It’s not the first time the Raikkonen name has raced with Red Bull backing, with Kimi’s 2001 debut seeing him race for Sauber, sponsored by Red Bull, before he joined Citroen’s World Rally junior team in 2009, backed by the Austrian drinks giant.
Clever hints emerged on Red Bull’s social media channels this week, with an image shared of a Red Bull can alongside a glass of ice cubes. This could also be interpreted as a reference to the team’s engine department having its internal combustion engine [ICE] ranked as the best under the FIA’s power unit ADUO benchmarking.
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