With Kimi Raikkonen racing in Formula One for over 15 years, there was bound to be a time where his incredible stint in the sport had to come to an end, and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton recognises the importance of the Finnish driver.

First arriving on the grid at the Australian Grand Prix in 2001, Raikkonen has gone on to win 20 races and finish on the podium 100 times.

However, his last win came in 2013 at the Australian Grand Prix, where he made his debut 12 years prior. 

There has been speculation about whether Kimi will be losing his seat come the end of the season, with rookie driver Charles Leclerc being the likely replacement. 

Despite current CEO Louis Camilleri revealing his desire to keep a hold of Raikkonen, his predecessor Sergio Marchionne signed the rookie driver before he, unfortunately, passed away.

Regarding the situation with Kimi, the man of the moment Hamilton had this to say: “Would I miss Kimi? I think it’s always a difficult question to say if you miss someone.

“I think the sport would naturally miss him, yeah.

“I made it no secret that before I even got to Formula 1 I was always playing… when I was playing the PlayStation I was always Kimi in the McLaren, imagining that was me.

“And then I remember the first car at McLaren which was Kimi’s set-up and the suspension that he would use, which was… I remember it like it was yesterday.

“It was an amazing experience and it was cool because I think our driving style was kind of similar, which meant that I ended up being quite comfortable with the set-up that he used back then.

“He’s had an incredible career and it’s been a real honour to race against a great Finn such as him – but he looks like he’s just ice-cold.

“He’s just got plenty of years left in him. He’s not seeming to age. I don’t know what it is about Finnish people. I think it’s the sauna and the ice thing.”

Despite talks of Raikkonen losing his seat, the Finn is currently third in the driver's leaderboard. Although he's unlikely to catch Hamilton and Vettel, he will certainly be pushing them to the very end.