During July’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, F1 gathered seven title-winners — Alain Prost, Jackie Stewart, Emerson Fittipaldi, Mika Hakkinen, Mario Andretti, Nigel Mansell and Jacques Villeneuve — for a filmed discussion to celebrate the sport’s 75th anniversary.
The conversation, featuring 14 world titles between them, was released this week on F1’s YouTube channel.
Raikkonen, who claimed the 2007 championship with Ferrari, was not featured, and in true “Iceman” fashion, he responded to F1’s Instagram post promoting the roundtable with a simple: “Thanks for the invite.”
The comment quickly went viral, drawing more than 28,000 likes as fans revelled in Raikkonen’s trademark sarcasm.
View this post on Instagram
Advertisements
Since retiring from Formula 1 at the end of 2021, the Finn has largely stepped away from the spotlight, making only occasional public appearances.
Over his 19-season career he recorded 21 race victories and 103 podiums, alongside his sole championship triumph.
Raikkonen wasn’t the only former F1 driver to respond to the roundtable promotion, with another post highlighting Hakkinen’s recovery from his 1995 Australian Grand Prix accident also drawing a reply from a former racer.
Hakkinen’s McLaren teammate at the time, Mark Blundell, shared his memories of the incident.
“I remember very well my teammate going through the trauma of that accident and all of us in the team praying he would be OK,” he said.
While Raikkonen’s absence drew attention, the roundtable itself offered a rare glimpse into the shared experiences of some of F1’s greatest names.
Safety — and how far the sport has come — was a recurring theme. Villeneuve reflected on the impact of Ayrton Senna’s death in 1994, calling it a turning point.
“There was the before Senna and after Senna,” he said. “The 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.
“Suddenly in the mid-90s it wasn’t being a hero anymore. That really had a big effect on all of us.”
Fittipaldi, who praised Stewart for spearheading the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association’s push for safety in the 1960s and 70s, reminded viewers that in his era “the odds were seven to one — three drivers would not be there by the end of the year.”
Others pointed to key technological shifts. Andretti highlighted the discovery of ground effect aerodynamics as “revolutionising the modern era,” while Stewart underlined the role of former F1 safety and medical delegate Sid Watkins and improved medical facilities after years of inadequate trackside support.
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.
“What’s admirable is you can see here the fire is still there,” Villeneuve said. “The real champion will always love racing and have the fire inside.”
Discussion about this post