Just days after announcing his upcoming retirement from Formula 1, Kimi Raikkonen will miss his only chance to race at Zandvoort after the Finnish driver tested positive for COVID-19. A short statement from Formula 1 confirmed that Raikkonen had contracted the virus and tested positive during a PCR test at the track, and will thus go straight into isolation from the paddock. "The FIA, Formula 1 and Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN can today confirm that during onsite PCR testing for the 2021 FIA Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix, Kimi Raikkonen has tested positive for COVID-19," read the statement. "In accordance with COVID-19 protocols he will take no further part in this Event. All contacts have been declared. "The procedures set out by the FIA and Formula 1 will ensure no wider impact on the Dutch Grand Prix." Alfa Romeo have wished Raikkonen a speedy recovery, and have scrambled to give Robert Kubica the cockpit vacated by Raikkonen. Kubica is Alfa Romeo's official reserve driver, and has tested for the team on numerous occasions, as well as taking part in several practice sessions. However, he hasn't contested a Grand Prix since the final round of 2019, when he was a race driver with Williams. Raikkonen is the first driver to test positive for COVID-19 ahead of a Grand Prix this season, and the latest to be forced to sit out a race since Lewis Hamilton tested positive ahead of the Sakhir Grand Prix last December.
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Following the latest round of testing conducted in advance of the #DutchGP , driver Kimi Räikkönen has tested positive for COVID-19. Kimi is displaying no symptoms and is in good spirits. He has immediately entered isolation in his hotel. The team wishes Kimi a speedy recovery. pic.twitter.com/uqfsb1qz87 — Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN (@alfaromeoracing) September 4, 2021
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