Kimi Raikkonen broke the all-time record for the most F1 grand prix starts earlier this season, and the team he races with, Sauber, is about to reach a milestone of its own.
This weekend’s Turkish Grand Prix will be Sauber’s 500th grand prix in Formula One, and Raikkonen has insisted that they are a “proper team”.
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“The team is quite a bit bigger than when I started in F1 with them. It’s a proper team,” Raikkonen, who made his debut with the team, said.
“We have all the tools, we have been building the cars. The gearbox and engine come from Ferrari, but apart from that, we do everything.
“It’s a great number the team are getting to, I think only three teams have done more grands prix. So for a private team, they’ve been a long time here, surviving some really difficult times and, hopefully, we can make them go higher up in the coming years.”
Meanwhile, Antonio Giovinazzi, who was recently confirmed to be staying with the team next season alongside Kimi Raikkonen, described it as a “great achievement” for the constructor.
“It’s a great achievement for the team, a small team like Sauber doing 500 Grands Prix is amazing,” Giovinazzi said.
“I’m proud even if I’m a small part of this record. For me it’s an important team, I did my debut with them back in 2017, my first full season with them, and now my third season with them.
“I’m proud to be part of this family. To be a small team, they achieve great results and a great record like this one,” the Italian racer added.
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