The last race weekend of the F1 calendar 2021 began on Friday with the two training sessions. Max Verstappen set the fastest lap time in Fp1, while his title rival Lewis Hamilton set the mark in FP2. With many newly built areas on the track, the drivers are not familiar with the layout. Many drivers drove close to the guardrails in the first practice session, but there was no debris. During the second practice session, however, Kimi Räikkönen’s Alfa Romeo found the wall at Turn 14, which immediately triggered a red flag, which ended the session.
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It is noteworthy that Kimi also put down a huge slide in Turn 9 in the first free practice, but found plenty of space around the track to minimize any contact with the barriers.
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Kimi Raikkonen turns in turn 14
The Finn was the 13th fastest in FP1 and finished just ahead of his teammate. The second session, however, turned out to be far from ideal for him after falling out of the session with significant damage to the rear of the car. Raikkonen spun in the high-speed corner that had to be looked for this weekend. It was heard on the radio that he had reported the damage to the car through the wall contact. “I’ve lost the stern.”
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To the fans’ relief, Kimi got out of the car safely and did not suffer any injuries. The Iceman’s crashed Alfa Romeo doesn’t look like good news for the team, however. The mechanics may have to work at Parc Ferme overnight to get his car ready for tomorrow’s qualifying.
Valtteri Bottas’ Mercedes also made contact with the wall around it but got away with minimal damage. Nicholas Latifi’s Williams also suffered significant rear end plate damage at Turn 13.
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The training provided the teams with suitable data to rethink their strategies before the big qualifying on Saturday at the Yas Marina Circuit.
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The post WATCH: Retired F1 driver Kimi Raikkonen is involved in a serious crash in Abu Dhabi first appeared on monter-une-startup.
