A TOP GEAR chief has recalled the moment he “b*******d” Formula One legend Kimi Raikkonen before thinking: “What have I done?!”
The 2007 F1 world champion appeared on the popular BBC show ahead of his second spell in the sport.
Raikkonen left Ferrari in 2009 before returning three years later with Lotus.
And during that gap, he killed time racing in the World Rally Championship and NASCAR Truck Series.
It also saw Raikkonen take to UK screens with Top Gear, where he chatted with former host Jeremy Clarkson while also racing timed laps in the show’s iconic celebrity driving segment.
However, Raikkonen failed to impress while behind the wheel.
Due to wet weather, the Finland native was unable to rack up a quick time.
It saw producers pray for the track to dry out.
But Raikkonen had no interest in going back out for another go after conditions improved.
It led to a Top Gear chief confronting the ace in his trailer.
BEST FREE BETS AND BETTING SIGN UP OFFERS
Yet as soon as he unleashed his tirade against Raikkonen, he quickly regretted it.
Speaking on the Midweek F1 podcast, former Top Gear executive producer Andy Wilman said: “Raikkonen came on the show. So everyone is doing their lap. His was a wet day.
“And we were like, ‘Oh, he’s not going to do it’. He’s like, ‘Okay’. But he’ll give it some, because it’s Kimi.
“It was when he came back with Lotus. And we were all like, ‘Oh, we are not worthy. You’re here. You’re here!’
“I went down to see the guy with the timer, Nick Dalton, who had the watch out. I was like, ‘How’s he doing? How’s he doing?’ He went, ‘Not great.’
“So he goes into his motorhome, and he’s like, ‘I’ve done enough laps now’. He wasn’t unfriendly, but he’s just like, ‘It’s a rainy day’.
“I go into the motorhome after him. He’s in the, like, Lazy Boy chair, and it’s warm, and he’s fully sort of stretched out, like Joey from Friends.
“I went, ‘Kimi, you know, it’s drying out now. I can’t tell you your time, but it wasn’t brilliant. We know you could go faster.’
“And he went, ‘No, I can’t’. And we were like, ‘No, Kimi, it really is dry now’, and I said, ‘If you look out of the window, you’ll see it’s definitely getting drier’.
“And he, with hugely bad grace, upped himself to the window, and he went, ‘No, it isn’t’.
“I lost it with him a bit, and b*******d him, like, ‘There’s so many people here waiting to see you make a comeback, and that’ll be on you if you don’t do something!’
“Then I thought, ‘What have I done?’ And then he got out, and he went and did a couple more laps and went a bit faster. But that was the day I told Kimi off.”
