The only time that the two ever smiled and displayed their chiselled jawlines big on the podium was back in 2013, on the occasion of the Australian Grand Prix. The winner of the race was Kimi Raikkonen, known as Mr. Bwoah of F1. And the man who came second that year was Fernando Alonso, the very driver who, one hopes hits a century of F1 podiums.
He is currently on 98.
And should that happen, one will only feel glad for the Spaniard. And unlike the Oviedo-born’s recent takes on F1 being fake, the world will not be faking it for it will smile wild when Fernando Alonso brings up his 100th career podium.
Fernando Alonso, truth be told, is a revelation. He’s actually a living legend. Both Kimi and Alonso are living legends, drivers who have been there, done that, walked away from F1 and returned to the sport only to bring back some lost smiles and that zesty verve of competition.
You know that great maddening thrill of going fast, blazingly fast in pure racing, pure wheel-to-wheel driving.
Now that one among them is leaving, and for good, the onus rests on Fernando Alonso to continue what F1’s dynamic duo have been known for- hard and clean racing, the actual breakfast of champion F1 drivers!
But as it turns out, there’s more to the two drivers than just their love for pure Grand Prix style racing and the fact that there was actually a time where Ferrari got the two together under one racing umbrella.
Remember that time (and no- we are not referring to the MJ song) when Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen went behind the wheel of a Ferrari wearing red racing overalls to contest in a season at the end of which not two but only one among them was smiling?
Refreshes one’s memory to think that Kimi Raikkonen, an F1 world champion with Ferrari (in 2007), struggled that year in 2014 managing no more than 55 points, while on the other hand, El Nino, devastating in a not-so-devastating car bagged 161 points for the Italian racing marquee.
But the smile did, as said, belong to Fernando Alonso, who recently shared that together with Kimi, he’s smiled over the fact that how fake F1 can actually get- on occasions.
So what exactly did the former Renault and Ferrari (currently with Alpine) driver say?
Speaking to a podcast about his life and times in motor-racing’s top flight, the following is what Fernando Alonso had to say about his journey, some fine moments and importantly, Kimi Raikkonen, someone we may not consider his close friend; albeit someone with whom Alonso shares a fine bond.
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When you start in Formula 1, you don’t have a clear idea of what the future holds. Kimi and I have had exciting seasons in Formula 1. We have both been world champions, something you can never be sure of when you come into this racing class. I’m very happy to have shared so many years with him.”
We live in a bubble, we don’t have a normal life. We travel in planes with all the comforts, we stay in five-star hotels, but on Sunday night we are ordinary people. Kimi and I have different ideas about F1 and we have often laughed about how fake F1 is sometimes.”
So will Alonso miss Kimi? Well, well! The two can have a laugh about it as well, right?
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