Ferrari win still leaves Raikkonen 'excited' to join Sauber

In Austin, Kimi Raikkonen enjoyed his first win with Ferrari in over a decade but the emotions linked to his achievement won't change the excitement he feels about joining Sauber in the future.

The Finn's previous F1 triumph took place in Australia in 2013, while his last victory with the House of Maranello goes all the way back to Spa in 2009.

There have been many podiums and also lost opportunities along the way, but Austin resonates as a special feat, the timing of which nicely marks the end of his career at the Scuderia, just before he opens a new chapter in his racing life.

• A winner once again, 113 races and 2044 days later

"I think people don’t understand I’m actually very happy with where I’m going," Raikkonen said about his move to Sauber, the team where it all started for F1's senior citizen.

"I had my time with Ferrari, I won my championship with them, I won many races with them and for me, as a driver, I want different challenges, I want different things.

"I’m actually really happy to go there, it’s roughly 40 minutes from my home, my family will be happy and I’m happy to be with my family," he added.

"I think it’s probably the best thing and I wasn’t at any point disappointed with the decision."

Raikkonen said that he was always eager to get clarity on his future as the current season unfolded.

"The only thing that I was interested in was to know what was going to happen and the rest, I’ve been long enough in Formula 1 to know that things, it doesn’t matter if you have a contract or not, things happen for different reasons.

"The end result is that I’m very excited about."

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