F1 | Leberer (Sauber physiotherapist) recalls a background story on Raikkonen's debut: "he was asleep before the start of the race"

With the Abu Dhabi race, held last November 25th on the Yas Marina track, the professional experience of Kimi Raikkonen in Ferrari for a total of eight seasons. The Finn, who bequeathed the steering wheel of the Rossa to Charles Leclerc, will be driving the Alfa Romeo Sauber from next year where he will share the garage with our Antonio Giovinazzi.

For Raikkonen it is therefore a return to the Hinwil team, where he made his Formula One debut way back in 2001 in the Australian Grand Prix.

In that race, held at Albert Park in Melbourne, where Iceman immediately scored in the points thanks to the sixth place achieved following the penalty of Olivier Panis, the Sauber physiotherapist Josef Leberer recalled a curious background: “He was sleeping – he underlined to Formula1.com -. I said: 'Kimi, in a few minutes you have to compete in your first race! '. He told me: 'Josef, let me sleep another five minutes! '. I have never seen anything like it before or since. It was something natural on his part, I let him sleep for a few more minutes, rest is important".