PERSONAL LIFE OF KIMI RAIKKONEN
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PERSONAL LIFE OF KIMI RAIKKONEN

Räikkönen married Jenni Dahlman, a Finnish model and former Miss Scandinavia, on July 31, 2004. They currently live in Switzerland. His older brother, Rami Räikkönen, is a rally driver and a national junior-class champion, who also competes in the Finnish Formula 3 Championship. His father Matti was a road builder.

Räikkönen's hobbies include snowboarding and ice hockey. He has also competed in several different kinds of motorsport events. In March 2007, while his Formula One rivals were in Australia preparing for the season opener, Räikkönen competed in a snowmobile race in Finland under the pseudonym "James Hunt", referring to the 1976 world champion whose "playboy" lifestyle has been compared with Räikkönen's own. Räikkönen won the Enduro Sprint race by over 20 seconds with his Lynx MaMo. Later in the year, he and two friends entered a powerboat race in the Finnish harbour city of Hankowhile wearing gorilla suits. Again, he raced under the name "James Hunt". They then won a prize for the best-dressed crew.

In January 2005, at a London Mayfair strip club called "For Your Eyes Only", Räikkönen allegedly stunned onlookers by cavorting with a lapdancer before launching into his own strip show. It proved an embarrassment to McLaren officials who were unveiling the new MP4-20 car in the same month. Chief executive Martin Whitmarsh admitted that Räikkönen may have been naive.

Räikkönen has often been compared to his predecessor as Ferrari lead driver, Michael Schumacher. Schumacher, who is married and has two children, was very protective of his private life and disliked the celebrity spotlight.

There had been some speculation in the media that Räikkönen was contemplating retirement from Formula One at the end of the 2009 season. However, on September 12 2008, it was confirmed by Ferrari that the team will keep the Räikkönen-Massa formation until the end of the 2010 season.

Räikkönen has previously stated that he will continue racing after his career in Formula One. Malcolm Wilson of the BP Ford World Rally Team has said he will consider offering Räikkönen a test in one of the teams cars, raising speculation that the Finn could move to the series after Formula One. Hans-Jürgen Abt, Managing Director of the Audi championship team Abt Sportsline, also said he would like to have Räikkönen on his DTM team. On Friday, September 12 2008, Kimi Räikkönen was confirmed through the 2010 season with Ferrari. 

In August 2008, it was announced that Räikkönen would appear on a set of Finnish postage stamps. The stamps, which were released to commemorate the Finnish postal service's 370th anniversary, feature images of him racing and on the podium, with the words "F1 World Champion '07 Kimi Räikkönen".

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