Formula 1: Kimi Raikkonen poised to break record he doesn’t care about

2007 Formula 1 champion Kimi Raikkonen is poised to break a major all-time Formula 1 record, and he couldn’t possibly care any less.

When it was announced last September that Kimi Raikkonen would not be returning to Scuderia Ferrari for the 2019 Formula 1 season but that he would be re-joining Alfa Romeo Sauber (now Alfa Romeo Racing), the team for which he drove in his rookie season, the 2001 season, it put him in a position to break an all-time Formula 1 record.

When this announcement was made, there were seven races remaining on the 21-race 2018 schedule, at which point the 39-year-old Finn had competed in 284 races over the course of his Formula 1 career, which began in the 2001 season and includes every season since then except for the 2010 and 2011 seasons. This start total ranked fifth on the all-time Formula 1 starts list.

Raikkonen’s deal with Alfa Romeo Racing is a two-year deal, so he is set to continue driving for the team through at least the end of the 2020 season. If he ends up doing so, he will have competed in more races than any driver in Formula 1 history.

More from Formula One

• Formula 1: Top Red Bull threat identified for 2024
• Formula 1: Why the Max Verstappen retirement obsession?
• Formula 1: Williams ‘mistake’ hints Logan Sargeant’s future
• Formula 1 awaiting key confirmation for 2024 season
• Formula 1: The ‘championship’ Max Verstappen only leads by 3 points

Having competed in each of the nine races that have taken place since this announcement was made, including last season’s final seven races and this season’s first two races, Raikkonen has now competed in 293 races, a career start total that still ranks fifth on the all-time Formula 1 starts list.

He has competed in more races than any other active driver, as the next highest active driver on this list is Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport’s Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton has competed in 231 races, a career start total that is tied for 10th on this list.

Rubens Barrichello, who competed in Formula 1 on a full-time basis from the 1993 season through the 2011 season and only missed four races during this 19-year span, competed in an all-time record 322 races over the course of his career.

With 19 races remaining on the 2019 schedule, which you can see here, Raikkonen is in a position to tie Barrichello’s all-time Formula 1 starts record in the 10th race of the 2020 season, and he is in position to break this record in the following race.

However, in typical Raikkonen fashion, he made clear that he couldn’t possibly care any less. Here is what he had to say about the matter, according to Motorsport Total.

"“I’ve never hunted any numbers. I do not care if it’s 20 or 20,000, it does not matter. And if I no longer feel that, then I stop.”"

If Raikkonen competes in each of the final 19 races of the 2019 season, his career start total will ascend to 312, which would rank second on the all-time Formula 1 starts list. He would pass Michael Schumacher (306 career starts), Jenson Button (306 career starts) and Fernando Alonso (312 career starts) on this list.

Will Kimi Raikkonen become the all-time recordholder in terms of career Formula 1 starts toward the middle of the 2020 season like he is slated to? In how many Formula 1 races will he have competed when he retires from the sport?