WATCH: Retiring F1 Driver Kimi Raikkonen Involved in a Heavy Crash in Abu Dhabi

The final race weekend of the 2021 F1 calendar has kicked off this Friday with the two practice sessions. Max Verstappen recorded the fastest lap time in Fp1 while his title rival Lewis Hamilton set the marker in FP2. With a lot of newly constructed areas in the circuit, the drivers are not well acquainted with the layout. A lot of drivers went close to the barriers in the first practice session, but there was no wreckage. However, during the second practice session, the Alfa Romeo of Kimi Raikkonen found the wall on turn 14 immediately triggering a red flag which ended the session.

Notably, Kimi also took a huge slide around turn 9 during the 1st free practice session but found a lot of area around the track to minimize any contact with the barriers.

Kimi Raikkonen spins on turn 14

The Finn was 13th fastest in the FP1 finishing just ahead of his teammate. However, the second session proved to be far from ideal for him after he crashed out of the session with considerable damage to the rear of the car. Raikkonen spun at the high-speed corner, the one to look for this weekend. He was heard reporting on the radio about the damage inflicted on the car following the contact with the wall. “I lost the rear.”

To the relief of the fans, Kimi was out of the car safely and he has not sustained any injuries. However, the shattered Alfa Romeo of the ‘Iceman’ doesn’t look like good news for the team. The mechanics might have to work overnight in parc ferme to get his car ready for qualifying tomorrow.

The Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas also made contact with the wall around but got away with minimum damage. The Williams of Nicholas Latifi also sustained considerable damage in the rear endplates going into Turn 13.

The practice session has provided suitable data to the teams to reassess their strategies before going into the big qualifying session on Saturday at the Yas Marina Circuit.

Read More- Abu Dhabi GP FP2 Report: Mercedes Knocks Red Bull off the Top As Hamilton Sets the Marker