Raikkonen goes back to school

Scuderia Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen put a smile on the faces of 400 children yesterday morning (6 June) during a visit hosted by Bridgestone Firestone Canada Inc. to the Coronation School in the Côtes des Neiges area of Montreal, Canada.

Taking a break from his preparations for the Canadian round of the FIA Formula One World Championship, Raikkonen dropped in to the elementary school where he was greeted in Finnish by the school children, who are aged between five and eleven years old. The visit started with a question and answer session with Sportsnet presenter Louis Jean, during which Raikkonen spoke about his life as a Formula One driver. He then answered several questions directly from the children.

After stepping down from the stage Raikkonen watched a miniature F1 race demonstration put on by the school’s 2006 World Robotics Championship winning team. The enthusiastic youngsters had made a specially designed replica Ferrari car which they raced against their own car. As the gracious hosts the children had pre-programmed the Ferrari to win the race, despite starting second on the grid to their own car!

Next up in the busy programme of activities for the Finnish driver was a demonstration in a F1 simulator and, after setting his own fastest lap, Raikkonen offered advice to pupils as they too took turns to set a time and see if there are any budding future Formula One drivers. The morning ended with Raikkonen taking the time to sign autographs.

Commenting on the event Raikkonen said: “Thank you to all the pupils and staff at the Coronation School for giving me such a warm welcome! It was really nice that they learnt how to say ‘welcome’ in Finnish. The children were quite young but even so they asked me some good questions and I was very impressed with the Robotic Team’s Ferrari car. They must have spent a lot of time and effort making it and they even let me win! I hope the children enjoyed my visit and that it gave them a little taste of what Formula One is all about.”