Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi are no longer a part of F1 with the former having retired and the latter joining Formula-E.
Raikkonen brought his long and illustrious career to an end following the culmination of the 2021 season. The 2007 World Champion had a quiet last three years in the sport, driving for Alfa Romeo Racing.
Throughout these three years, Raikkonen had Antonio Giovinazzi as his teammate and the two share a very good relationship off track. Raikkonen isn’t the most social guy on the grid, but he insisted several times that Giovinazzi was someone he considered to be a great friend.
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The Italian driver’s contract with Alfa Romeo wasn’t renewed for 2022. Chinese driver Guanyu Zhou replaced him at the team. Giovinazzi jumped ship to Formula-E, where he’s currently driving for Dragon Penske racing.
After the season finale in Abu Dhabi last year, fans were sad to see the Alfa Romeo teammates leave F1. However, in a recent video, we got to see the two friends share a moment with one another, one last time in the F1 paddock.
IM ABOUT TO LOSE IT pic.twitter.com/KoIkPGtvhV
— Madie 🏁 (@Madiethebadieee) February 4, 2022
Kimi Raikkonen and his family wish Giovinazzi good luck
Giovinazzi seems to have a close bond with the Raikkonen family. We saw a softer version of ‘The Iceman’ when he reassured his daughter that they will definitely meet Giovinazzi again.
“Hey we will see Antonio, okay?” Raikkonen said to his daughter. “We will see him in Italy, and have a lot of Pizza!” Giovinazzi proceeded to hug the little girl and say, “You will come to my house in the summer.”
“Merry Christmas, and remember to ask for presents!” the 28-year old Italian continued.
We then see the two former teammates share a touching moment where they bid farewell to one another. Raikkonen’s wife Minttu embraced Giovinazzi and thanked him before the Finn said,” Have a safe trip home, okay? We’ll call.”
Before leaving the paddock for one final time, Kimi Raikkonen jokingly warned Giovinazzi to ‘not use his helmet’.
The duo’s friendship was something that seemingly went under the radar. But with the release of this latest video, we get access to a side of Raikkonen that’s seldom seen on camera.
