Antonio Giovinazzi on his comic text exchange with Kimi Raikkonen

Former Alfa Romeo driver Antonio Giovinazzi shared an anecdote of a comical conversation with Kimi Raikkonen. The Italian revealed when he wished the Finn on New Year’s Eve, it was reciprocated with unusually comical banter from the 2007 world champion.

Speaking to the Italian edition of Motorsport Network, Giovinazzi said:

“I sent him a message at New Year’s Eve to wish him a good New Year. Now Kimi doesn’t normally have a good relationship with his phone, let alone when he’s on holiday in the Maldives. But after a few days, he contacted me and we made some jokes back and forth.”

The Italian shared that the Finn joked about getting an Italian style tan from the Maldives and growing his hair out like the Italian himself. Kimi Raikkonen was vacationing with his family in the Maldives through most of December after his final race in F1.

Sharing one of the jokes texted by the Finn, Giovinazzi said:

“For instance, he told me that he had got a good tan. He described it as Italian-style tan and said he was also thinking of growing his hair out, to get even more Italian-style!”

Both Giovinazzi and Raikkonen exit the sport after the Abu Dhabi GP, however as team-mates the Finn was quite the mentor to the Italian.

While the former continues to race with a Formula E team, the latter has retired from F1 but will return to the racing world as the team principal of the Motocross team Kawasaki Racing.

Kimi Raikkonen has been announced as team principal of a Motocross team

Ferrari’s last world champion is set to make a comeback into the racing world as Team Principal of the Motocross team Kawasaki Racing.

The factory team of the Motocross World Championship recently announced the Finn’s new role which will involve the strategic management of the team.

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Carrying more than two decades of experience as an F1 driver and working with five teams throughout his career, Kimi Raikkonen intends to use his experience to help the team succeed on a global platform.