"Top Gear" producer recalls the day he "bollocked" Kimi Raikkonen: "I kinda lost it with him"

Kimi Raikkonen has always been known to do things on his own terms, but former Top Gear producer Andy Wilman recently revealed a moment when he "bollocked" the driver for not putting enough effort into his time on the BBC show.

Speaking on the Midweek F1 podcast, Wilman reflected on Raikkonen's time on the show as the driver was celebrating his return to Lotus. Expected to set a lap in the reasonably priced car on a wet day at Dunsfold, the Finnish driver was underwhelming in his efforts.

“Raikkonen came on the show,” Wilman said. “Everyone’s doing their lap. His was a wet day and we were like, ‘Oh, he’s not going to do it.’ He’s like, ‘OK, but he’ll give it some because it’s Kimi.’”

But his early attempts were not what the producer expected. “I went down to see the guy with the timer, Nick Dalton, had the watch out. I’m like, ‘How’s he doing? How’s he doing?’ He went, ‘Not great.’”

The 2007 Formula 1 world champion was heading back to his motorhome and looking to call it a day, but Wilman wasn't ready to let him leave.

“So he goes into his motorhome and he’s like, ‘Done, I’ve done enough laps now,’” Wilman continued. “He wasn’t unfriendly, but he’s just like, ‘It’s a rainy day.’”

With the track starting to dry, the Clarkson's Farm producer decided to ask his guest for another shot at a fast lap, but found Raikkonen in no hurry. 

Kimi Raikkonen in the Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber garage with his son, Robin

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

“I’ve gone in a bit late because he’s in the Lazy Boy chair and it’s warm and he’s fully stretched out like Joey from Friends,” he said. “And I went, ‘Kimi, it’s drying out now. I can’t tell you your time, but it wasn’t brilliant and we know you could go faster.’ And he went, ‘No, I can’t.’”

He urged the driver to try again, insisting that the conditions had improved.

“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,’ and then lay back again.”

This was when Wilman snapped. “So I kind of lost it with him a bit and bollocked him,” he admitted, “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 he got up and he went and did a couple more laps and went a bit faster,” Wilman said. “That was the day I told Kimi off.”