'And he did it, and he took us along with it!' F1
A classic Kimi Raikkonen tale including blue dye and an electric razorKimi Raikkonen’s former mechanic Marc Priestley has recounted some of the pranks that went on during the Finn’s time at McLaren…
“I worked with Kimi for the longest spell at McLaren in terms of the drivers that I worked with. I say around 2004, 2005, he was the fastest driver I’ve ever worked with – hands down. I’ve worked with quite a few of the greats, but Kimi was the fastest over a lap. He could drag a lap time out of a car in his prime that the car just shouldn’t have ever done.
“I’d been out to his house loads of times at the end of each season, we’d go on a week-long piss-up, we’d take the mechanics out, and we’d become close friends with his close friends back home. Priestley began laying the groundwork for the prank, revealing to Raikkonen what lay in wait for him… “We got to race day and I’m thinking ‘I’ve taken this so far now, I can’t back out. I’ve got to do something!’
“He ends up finishing fourth and, when you’re fourth, you don’t have any of the media commitments, he comes straight back to the garage, pulls his gloves off, and he’s got bright blue hands! He just came into the garage, looked across, and went ‘you f***ing b*****d!’