It has been well advertised that Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix will be the 300^th Formula One race for Kimi Raikkonen. The Iceman was asked his thoughts with the milestone approaching and his reaction was fitting with the personality that so many millions love the world over.

In response to the celebrations being planned to mark Kimi Raikkonen’s 300^th Formula 1 Grand Prix the Iceman unsurprisingly said:

“I tried to force them to cancel everything but I’ve not had very good success so far. It’s no different from last week or the next race. In the end it’s just a number. For sure it’s different from the first race but after that, once you go on for a while, it doesn’t really change. Everyone is talking about my 300^th race but I’m more interested in our performance.”

As for Kimi Raikkonen’s rookie teammate Antonio Giovinazzi, he is yet to score a point whereas his teammate sits ninth in the championship with 13 points.

"It's quite tough. But I have the support of the team and I believe in my team as well. This is important. The car is there. Sometimes we have the issues, sometimes not. When we put it all together the result will come. It's only five races, there's no worry on my side."

https://www.motorlat.com/notas/f1/11103/niki-lauda-a-legend-remembered

Giovinazzi may not yet be worried but he is probably relieved to hear that Alfa Romeo has announced they will change engines and run the new Ferrari Spec Two engine this weekend. Alfa Romeo (and Haas) will be hoping that this power unit’s introduction is more successful for them than it was for Ferrari who did not even make the podium let alone challenge for the race win in Barcelona.

"Barcelona was one of the tracks we struggled most," Giovinazzi said. "We had a good test with Kimi, so I hope we found the right way. But here it's a different track. It's difficult to see if we're better or not. We have a good car, we just need to work in the right way. It's only one race where we struggled. Until the race in Baku we were always there, especially in the race. It can happen. The important thing is to check everything back home and bring a good car to Monaco."

One thing is for sure, if Alfa Romeo have brought ‘a good car’ to Monaco and the Spec Two engine does have a positive impact on the Alfa Romeo, that would be the perfect gift for Kimi Raikkonen; a car which he can challenge racers with and maybe even better his season’s best – a seventh placed finish.

After all, this is what the racing world wants to see and this is why the Iceman is loved by so many and have so many great memories from the 299 races gone before. Monaco, over to you for 300.