In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, FIA has begun a fundraising initiative called, #RaceAgainstCovid. RM Sotheby’s, a prestigious car auction company has also joined this fundraiser. RM Sotheby’s will be holding an online-only auction where a variety of personal items such as race suits of current and former motorsport stars will go under the hammer. All proceeds from this auction will go to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). The latest F1 Racer set to donate his racing suit is Kimi Raikkonen.
Kimi Raikkonen to donate 2017 and 2019 racing suits of Ferrari and Alfa Romeo respectively
via Imago
Kimi Raikkonen
A tweet sent by the official FIA Twitter account confirmed the above. The tweet reads, “Kimi Raikkonen has 2 incredible racing suits as donations in the #RaceAgainstCovid auction. His 2017 F1 championship Ferrari suit which he donated himself, and his 2019 F1 championship Sparco suit from Richard Mille.”
However, Kimi isn’t the only F1 driver to donate items. The other F1 drivers to have donated are, Valtteri Bottas, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, Damon Hill, and Charles Leclerc. Even F1 teams such as Mclaren, have donated their F1 car for the auction. The auction follows an initial donation of 1 million EURO made by the FIA themselves to the IFRC. Fans can already start their bidding. The auction began on the 15th of June and will have a staggered lot closure on the 22nd of June.
Regarding the auction, FIA president Jean Todt said, “Since the beginning of the health crisis, the FIA and the entire motorsport community have been committed to fighting the pandemic through many initiatives such as #RaceAgainstCovid. I very much welcome the FIA and RM Sotheby’s collaboration for the benefit of the IFRC’s global response to the pandemic. I thank all the drivers and teams for their contributions as well as the FIA Foundation for its generous donation. To ensure this auction the success it deserves, I urge each and every one of our motorsport family to join us.”
