Raikkonen tests positive for Covid-19 and misses the Dutch GP; Kubica replaces him

The Netherlands GP He has already claimed a loss, that of the man with the most races under his belt in the history of Formula 1: Kimi Raikkonen has tested positive for coronavirus.

Despite being vaccinated and the championship bubble remains more or less impermeable, in the control tests carried out on all the members of the paddock (pilots, engineers, mechanics, journalists …) the contagion of the champion has been detected of the world of 2007, so has been set aside and quarantined immediately.

Raikkonen tests positive for Covid-19 and misses the Dutch GP; Kubica replaces him

This news comes a few days after he announced that this will be his last season in F1 before permanently retiring from competition. Therefore, the one that was already listed as his GP number 343.

Raikkonen will be replaced by the team’s reserve driver from the 2020 campaign, the also veteran Robert Kubica. The Pole is in top form, and in fact not a month ago since he played his last high altitude race, the 24 hours of Le Mans. The car of Kubica made the news during the appointment in the mythical endurance test due to the damage they suffered on the last lap and that deprived them of the victory in the LMP2 category. This will be his 98th F1 GP and he could hit 99 in Italy next week if Raikkonen must stay isolated.

The young b has run out of opportunity because this weekend he is in the GT World Challenge at the Nürburgring this weekend, and next week he is scheduled to travel to the United States for his IndyCar debut. However, from his message following the news from Raikkonen, his disappointment is clear: “Well … that’s my luck. Unfortunately, I was not planned to be there.”

Raikkonen’s positive has caused other members of the paddock to be isolated, such as Jost capito, team leader of Williams, with whom the Finn had dinner on Friday.