Last update on. From the section Formula 1
Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen won 2007 Formula 1 World Championship title
Kimi Raikkonen, Alfa Romeo driver, has been positive for Covid-19. She will be missing this weekend's Dutch Grand Prix.
Finn, 41, announced this week that he would be retiring from F1 at season's end. Robert Kubica will replace him.
Alfa Romeo stated that Kimi is showing no symptoms and is happy. He immediately went into isolation.
Kubica raced last for Williams at the end 2019 season, but has been tested for Alfa several times this year.
A spokesperson for Alfa Romeo stated that they had done a thorough contact check and were happy to report that there was no impact on their operations for the remainder of the weekend.
The FIA, F1's governing body, has strict Covid protocols that require immediate isolation and then retesting for anyone who is close to someone who has a positive test.
Alfa stated that all close contacts had been sorted in accordance with the FIA protocols.
Jost Capito, Williams chief executive officer, and team principle, had dinner on Friday night with Raikkonen and is now, as a close friend, isolating in the hotel room.
F1 follows the guidelines of the country where the individual is held. In the Netherlands, the only requirement is to isolate as close a contact if the person is not vaccinated.
A majority of F1 personnel have had a Covid-19 vaccination.
Raikkonen is the seventh F1 driver who has contracted coronavirus since the outbreak of the pandemic.
Sergio Perez from Mexico was the first, and he missed two races in the delayed 2020 season while he was driving for Racing Point.
Lance Stroll, his teammate, followed him in October before Lewis Hamilton, seven-time world champion, missed the penultimate race when he caught it.
Hamilton spoke out last month about his lies that he was still feeling the effects of the infection. He called it 'long Covid' and described how it affected his training.
The disease was contracted by McLaren's Lando Norris, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, and AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly while they were training in Dubai.
Numerous senior figures including Toto Wolff (Mercedes team principal), Lawrence Stroll (Aston Martin team owner) and Frederic Vasseur (Alfa Romeo team boss) have all tested positive.
