Kimi Raikkonen gives Jenson Button bump as old rivals clash in NASCAR

Kimi Raikkonen gives Jenson Button ‘massive whack’ as pair come together in NASCAR

Ex-Formula 1 world champions Jenson Button and Kimi Raikkonen collided once again as they lined up in the NASCAR Cup Series

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Formula 1 legends Kimi Raikkonen and Jenson Button both showed signs of growing pains on Sunday when they reignited their rivalry in the NASCAR Cup Series. The former F1 world champions were in the field for the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, where an incident-ridden race made for difficult viewing at times.

Numerous spins, crashes and breakdowns made for a stop-start event as 2009 F1 title-winner Button made his debut in North America’s hugely popular discipline. The Englishman is signed up for three events representing Rick Ware Racing, while 2007 F1 kingpin Raikkonen returned for his second one-off appearance having made his NASCAR debut last year.

A lack of any real momentum saw both stars struggle to make any impact on the podium places, though Button did show promise at one point after one of several Safety Cars. But as fate would have it, a ‘whack’ from old adversary Raikkonen ensured that encouragement was short-lived.

“We got a little bit unlucky with the Safety Car because it was just two laps before our window,” said Button in his post-race remarks. “Pitted, then the next stint was mayhem. We also made a couple of changes that just didn’t work.

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Jenson Button and Kimi Raikkonen collided in Texas (Image: Getty)

“Big oversteer – went from the car feeling great to really difficult to drive. I also had a massive whack from Kimi, and it fell off after that. The car wasn’t quite right.”

Button, 43, finished 18th overall but revealed he was close to stopping on several occasions after heat exhaustion left him thinking he was “going to faint in the car.” He was understandably happy with the result after the Rick Ware team helped get him across the finish line, no thanks to Trackhouse driver Kimi.

Raikkonen, also 43, finished 0.3 seconds faster than Button in qualifying but was unable to maintain that advantage as he placed 27th following a few close scrapes. The Flying Finn has happy memories of the Circuit of the Americas, where he clinched his final F1 win in 2018, but there was no such fortune this time around.

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The race gave the F1 legends a far different test (Image: FOX)

“We got unlucky with the incidents that happened. It was one of those things, unfortunately,” he said in his analysis. “Then there were no tyres left. They kept coming, getting more restarts and more restarts, so I think after the spin I had, the tyres were just done. It’s a shame because when we were there, but then we restart, and just wrong place, wrong time.

“It was a case of trying to stay out of the issues in the first corners and every time it looked like you’d be very good, then three corners later, somebody’s going the wrong direction. There’s a bit of mess and luck involved.”

There’s no clear indication regarding when fans might see Raikkonen back behind the wheel in NASCAR, but Button is set to return at the inaugural Grant Park 220 on the new Chicago Street Course on July 2. The Briton will back himself to gain some valuable practice time ahead of that comeback while he hopes for a smoother ride in the absence of one familiar face.