Kimi Raikkonen barely watched F1 during Covid-19 enforced break

Raikkonen, Alfa Romeo — Photo: © LAT Images

Russian Grand Prix

Raikkonen barely watched F1 during Covid-19 enforced break

Returning Finn feels "all good" after recovering from coronavirus

Ian Parkes & Will Gray

Friday 24 September 2021 08:00

Kimi Raikkonen says he is “all good” after recovering from Covid-19 and revealed he did not even watch all the races when he had to take an enforced break for the Dutch and Italian Grands Prix.

Former champion Raikkonen, who will leave the sport at the end of the year, became the latest driver to test positive for Covid-19, handing his Alfa Romeo over to Robert Kubica.

Asked if he had tuned in while he was away, Raikkonen replied: “Not fully, no. I don’t remember what happened but, you know, I watched the start and some laps here or there but not the full thing.

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“I mean, obviously racing would have been nice, for sure. [There were] some interesting end results for the race, but it was what it was and I was at home so it was okay.

“Obviously [Alfa Romeo] wished for a better end result for both of them but that’s how it went and it is not easy [for Kubica] to come back after not driving for a long time and go in the race. They did the best they could.”

Raikkonen keen to built on positives

Alfa Romeo had some fairly uninspiring results in the two races Raikkonen missed, with Antonio Giovinazzi finishing 14th and 13th and Kubica a place further back in each event but the Finn believes there are positives to build on.

In its back-of-the-grid battle with Haas, it is vital the team prevents its rivals from scoring points and Raikkonen said: "I’m pleased to be back in the car after missing two rounds.

“Obviously, nobody wants to test positive but it happened and we had to follow the rules. That is all in the past and now my focus is on Sochi.

"The team has shown some potential in the last few races, now we need to convert that into a good result.

“I don’t think being back will feel any different. I just want to get on with my job and hopefully have a good race.”