F1: Kimi Raikkonen Escapes Fire In Alfa Romeo In Abu Dhabi FP2 

It seems Romain Grosjean isn't the only guy in F1 in 2020 who has escaped a car which went up in flames. His former teammate from his days in Lotus - the 2007 world champion, Kimi Raikkonen joined Grosjean to become the second driver in 2020 to grapple with a car that went up in flames. His Alfa Romeo was damaged as he turned into a corner and this caused the car to catch fire which is a rarity for an F1 car. This happened during FP2 for the race in Abu Dhabi which is the last one of the season. 

Raikkonen started his F1 career in 2001 with the same team, then branded as Sauber
Photo Credit: AFP

While driving the car during FP2, Raikkonen, slowed down as his car started bellowing in smoke, till that smoke turned to fire. "You have a big fire and get the hell of there quick," said the team radio, warning Raikkonen to exit the car immediately. 

More than this, there is also a video circulating which shows the Finn grappling with the radio cable while trying to get out of a car that was on fire.

“I don't speculate, we'll see, for sure obviously there is some damage, hopefully, it's mainly bodywork,” he told reporters at Yas Marina Circuit after FP2.“Obviously it isn't the engine and gearbox that we run tomorrow, but yeah it's a bit more work for the guys to do," added the 41-year-old who is now the most experienced driver in the history of F1. 

Kimi Raikkonen is the most experienced F1 driver in the history of the sport.

More than this, there is also a video circulating which shows the Finn grappling with the radio cable while trying to get out of a car that was on fire. Raikkonen for his part in a typical nonchalant way shrugged off the "scare" and went about extinguishing the fire himself out of concern of damaging some elements of the vehicle. 

“No there was nothing scary about it, it's just a shame that it gets on fire and then it gets all messy with trying to put the fire down,” he explained. “We'll see tomorrow and Sunday, obviously it's only Friday and impossible to say,” said the Finn.“I think things were pretty okay, on this day it wasn't great, but we couldn't do many laps let's say more on high-fuel runs," he elaborated. 

Flames from the back of Kimi Raikkonen's car brought a temporary halt to FP2 #AbuDhabiGP ???????? #F1 pic.twitter.com/cY1qi7Cr6d

— Formula 1 (@F1) December 11, 2020