Kimi Raikkonen’s Formula 1 career ended in a retirement apparently caused by a suspected wheelnut problem, while his Alfa Romeo team-mate Antonio Giovinazzi also failed to finish his last race for the team – and in F1 for now – due to a broken gearbox.
Raikkonen, the 2007 world champion, started his 349th and final grand prix with a ceremony put on by F1 on the grid before the ‘We Race as One’ moment, but his participation ended at half-distance when, three laps after his pitstop, a wheelnut problem apparently caused him to spin under braking at Turn 6 and clip the wall. While the Finn was able to rejoin, he subsequently pitted and retired.
“It was a wheelnut issue, I guess the wheel wasn’t on the proper way,” said…