Kimi Raikkonen and his former teammate Antonio Giovinazzi went for sand dune buggy racing during the last race of the 2021 season in Abu Dhabi.
Kimi Raikkonen joined Alfa Romeo after his five-year-long stint with Ferrari. He joined the team with which he started and ended his career with the same team.
Antonio Giovinazzi made his F1 debut for Sauber (the same team as Kimi) when he was the reserve driver for Ferrari during the 2017 season.
He became a full-time driver in 2019 for Alfa Romeo, where he partnered with Raikkonen for three years.
Kimi Raikkonen & Antonio Giovinazzi, a friendship in f1 that got seemingly overlooked!
— The Megs⁹⁹ met antonio 🍂 (@megslou99) February 5, 2022
The pair knew eachother f1 wise since 2017 when Antonio joined Ferrari as a reserve/test driver. They got on quite quickly! But the link between the pair actually goes way back! 1/9 pic.twitter.com/2uDEMzgchT
Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi go Sand Dune Racing
Raikkonen and Giovinazzi had gone for Sand Dune racing as their last race as teammates for three years. Kimi was retiring from F1, and Antonio was not given the contract to continue in F1 further and was leaving for F1.
During the Sand Dune racing, Raikkonen crashed his car twice, and his wife Minttu Raikkonen said, “he knows what he is doing, at least that’s what he says”, which was said sarcastically.
While talking to Antonio, he said that “Kimi is a different guy, and we will miss him”, and he even spoke about his and Kimi’s relationship as teammates and the three years they have spent together.
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Kimi and Antonio’s performances against each other
Raikkonen and Giovinazzi were an excellent lineup that brought both experience and young talent to the team. But in the three years,” Antonio was beaten every year by his 42-year-old teammate Raikkonen.
This shows the driving standards of Raikkonen that even at his end, he was driving at a top-level. He was not destroyed like other old drivers such as Sebastian Vettel by his younger teammate.
Due to Giovinazzi’s poor performances and inability to beat the Finnish teammate, he was not signed as Alfa’s driver for the 2022 season.
Both Raikkonen and Giovinazzi are doing well. Raikkonen is presently enjoying his retirement with his family. Giovinazzi is driving in Formula E and is the reserve driver for Ferrari.
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