During his time in Formula One, Kimi Raikkonen, a former member of the McLaren team, gained notoriety for his outrageous antics and lightning-fast style. He was discovered at a post-season party.
At a wild, alcohol-fueled party, former F1 champion Kimi Raikkonen once shaved a reverse mohawk into the head of a former McLaren engineer.
During his tenure with the team, the Finnish sensation was well-known not only for his lightning-fast driving but also for his extravagant end-of-season parties. Back in his native land, Raikkonen frequently threw parties.
Marc Priestley, an ex-McLaren engineer, left one party sporting a slightly different hairstyle. He stated, “As we did every year, out to Finland for a p***-up,” in an interview with the Pit Stop podcast. On our first visit, every one of his friends and our friends is there. When it gets close to two in the morning, we all get together and start drinking. I’m extremely worn out.
“I knew he would try something to get me back, so I figured I couldn’t go to bed first. Ultimately, though, I will not be able to stay awake. I thought to myself as I ascended to my room in his house, “I’ll put a chair under the door handle, just in case!”
“I fell asleep in less than 20 minutes. The door comes off its hinges after twenty minutes! literally blows up, smashing the door to bits! We got into a heated argument in bed when Kimi and his companion suddenly barged in. He’s pinning me down while I’m wrestling him; his buddies have me pinned.
“At that time, I had long, shoulder-length hair, and he came across it with a pair of clippers and buzzed it like a reverse Mohican in the center of it! Even worse, he throws the clippers out the window into what appears to be a five-foot snowdrift after cutting the plug off the end of them! The clippers were gone, and they are gone.”
Priestley cannot deny that he saw his fresh trim coming, even though he did his best to avoid it during his trip to Finland. He had already subjected Raikkonen to a slightly embarrassing McLaren custom at the season’s last race in Sao Paulo in 2006.
Raikkonen’s former colleague described the Finn as having “smurf hands” because his gloves were filled with blue dye. His tenure with the team would end there, as he would depart for Ferrari in the 2007 season.
Raikkonen would experience great success as he won his first championship after winning six races; this would be his only career Formula One victory. After that, he finished third in the ensuing campaign.
It would take Raikkonen three seasons to leave Ferrari and step away from Formula One. He took a few years off before making a comeback with Lotus, where he also placed third in the drivers’ standings. He was last seen with Alfa Romeo in 2021, and he later returned to Ferrari. Since then, he’s competed in NASCAR races.
