Calls F1 Is Not The Most Important Thing In His Life, Raikkonen: I Don't Want My Family's Life To Be Dictated By The Race Schedule

Kimi Raikkonen (Instagram kimimatiasraikkonen)

JAKARTA - Kimi Raikkonen said on Thursday that Formula 1 was not the most important thing in his life and he would leave the sport without regrets and without complaints even though there are no clear plans for the future.

"I had fun and I did what I wanted", the 41-year-old Finn said ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort.

"I wouldn't change anything even if I could", he said.

Raikkonen earlier announced he would retire at the end of the season before making the 342nd start of his career on Sunday.

He made his debut with the Sauber team in 2001 and ended his career with the Swiss team which has now changed its name to Alfa Romeo.

Raikkonen's highest achievement was achieved in 2007 when he won the championship title with Ferrari while remaining the last world title held by the Italian team until now.

The racer nicknamed the Iceman said he made the decision in the winter and wanted to spend more time at home with his family.

"I can say F1 was never my life. It took up a lot of time from my life but it was never the main thing in my life. I always lived my life outside, I did normal things", said Raikkonen.

Raikkonen is now looking forward to life without the racing calendar schedule that fills his days like now.

"There are other schedules, children's school, kindergarten, and other things. But I don't want my family life to be dictated by when the races or tests or flights are scheduled".

"There's always an opportunity to do this and that but right now I'm not even interested in thinking about it.

"I'm proud of what I've achieved. I want to win the championship and I've been close a few times and won it with Ferrari, I'm happy and that's especially true with them".

Raikkonen said he was happiest at home with his family and when asked if he would miss racing he replied: "I've been doing it for so long and I doubt it (miss)".

He also joked that his original plan was to retire before the age of 30 and during the journey after that there were a number of incidents where he could have decided to quit.