![\"\u2018Thanks](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/XPB_1114992_HiRes.jpg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKimi Raikkonen’s response to a post by F1 has drawn a large reaction by fans. Image: XPB Images<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKimi Raikkonen’s response to a post by F1 has drawn a large reaction by fans. Image: XPB Images<\/p>\n
During July\u2019s Goodwood Festival of Speed, F1 gathered seven title-winners \u2014 Alain Prost, Jackie Stewart, Emerson Fittipaldi, Mika Hakkinen, Mario Andretti, Nigel Mansell and Jacques Villeneuve \u2014 for a filmed discussion to celebrate the sport\u2019s 75th anniversary.<\/p>\n
The conversation, featuring 14 world titles between them, was released this week on F1\u2019s YouTube channel.<\/p>\n
Raikkonen, who claimed the 2007 championship with Ferrari, was not featured, and in true \u201cIceman\u201d fashion, he responded to F1\u2019s Instagram post promoting the roundtable with a simple: \u201cThanks for the invite.\u201d<\/p>\n
The comment quickly went viral, drawing more than 28,000 likes as fans revelled in Raikkonen\u2019s trademark sarcasm.<\/p>\n
Since retiring from Formula 1 at the end of 2021, the Finn has largely stepped away from the spotlight, making only occasional public appearances.<\/p>\n
Over his 19-season career he recorded 21 race victories and 103 podiums, alongside his sole championship triumph.<\/p>\n
Raikkonen wasn\u2019t the only former F1 driver to respond to the roundtable promotion, with another post highlighting Hakkinen\u2019s recovery from his 1995 Australian Grand Prix accident also drawing a reply from a former racer.<\/p>\n
Hakkinen\u2019s McLaren teammate at the time, Mark Blundell, shared his memories of the incident.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember very well my teammate going through the trauma of that accident and all of us in the team praying he would be OK,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
While Raikkonen\u2019s absence drew attention, the roundtable itself offered a rare glimpse into the shared experiences of some of F1\u2019s greatest names.<\/p>\n
Safety \u2014 and how far the sport has come \u2014 was a recurring theme. Villeneuve reflected on the impact of Ayrton Senna\u2019s death in 1994, calling it a turning point.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was the before Senna and after Senna,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Senna moment really changed the outlook. I think the crowd watching the race had a different view, where in the past it was part of being a hero to risk your life.<\/p>\n
\u201cSuddenly in the mid-90s it wasn\u2019t being a hero anymore. That really had a big effect on all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fittipaldi, who praised Stewart for spearheading the Grand Prix Drivers\u2019 Association\u2019s push for safety in the 1960s and 70s, reminded viewers that in his era \u201cthe odds were seven to one \u2014 three drivers would not be there by the end of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Others pointed to key technological shifts. Andretti highlighted the discovery of ground effect aerodynamics as \u201crevolutionising the modern era,\u201d while Stewart underlined the role of former F1 safety and medical delegate Sid Watkins and improved medical facilities after years of inadequate trackside support.<\/p>\n
The champions also reminisced about their heroes, the qualities required to reach the top, and the fact that no matter how long they have been out of the car, the fire for racing always remains.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s admirable is you can see here the fire is still there,\u201d Villeneuve said. \u201cThe real champion will always love racing and have the fire inside.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kimi Raikkonen’s response to a post by F1 has drawn a large reaction by fans. Image: XPB Images…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":98773,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,817,813,816,846,85],"class_list":["post-98772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-kimi-raikkonen","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98772"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98772\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}