Raikkonen wants to sing while he's winning

Kimi Raikkonen might have his sights set on on-track success with Ferrari in 2017, but reports in the Finnish media suggest that he's also planning on having some fun back home in Helsinki when he gets time off.

Finnish entertainment magazine Seitseman Paivaa has suggested that the 37-year-old former world champion is planning to open his very own karaoke bar in Finland's capital city, with work due to begin in April.

The report said that Raikkonen wanted to keep the precise location of the venue secret, but added that it is thought to be close to where he keeps his yacht - presumably to make it easier for him to make his way over there whenever he fancies a drink and a song.

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If the report sounds like a premature April Fools' Day joke, it's worth remembering that Raikkonen is a past master at pulling surprises which initially apear to be pranks but which actually turn out to be completely serious, from his move to WRC to his try-out in NASCAR stock car racing.

The report points out that Raikkonen is a keen karaoke regular, and YouTube footage from 2009 indeed shows him belting out a song in his native Finnish in a bar.

We'll believe this latest news when we see it with our own eyes. Or rather, when we hear it with our own ears.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.