One year the senior of Fernando Alonso, Finnish racing driver Kimi Raikkonen is arguably one of the most emblematic drivers on the Formula 1 grid. Nicknamed the Ice Man for his cool attitude and plain chillness as a human being, the 37-year-old sportsman doesn’t smile as often as his peers. Far from it, for that matter.
In stark contrast to the cheerful Daniel Ricciardo, you’ll be hard pressed to make Kimi “Bwoah” Raikkonen smile, even on the top step of the podium. The incredible has happened, though, with Alfa Romeo managing to steal a smile from the Finn. With the V6-powered Giulia Quadrifoglio super sedan, that is.
In a bid to make people remember there’s a BMW M3 rival called Giulia Quadrifoglio on sale at an Alfa Romeo dealership near you, the Italian automaker brought three examples of the 510-horsepower brawler and three Formula 1 racing drivers at the Centro Sperimentale Balocco proving ground.
Other than Kimi, four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel appears to enjoy hooning the Giulia Quadrifoglio like a man on a mission. Scuderia Ferrari test driver Antonio Giovinazzi is in the third vehicle, and the youngster’s face reflects the emotions imbued by the ultimate Giulia variant into Kimi and Seb.
Speaking of emotions, the ad ends with the message “emotions always win.” I’m afraid the marketing team should’ve thought of a different copy, for Ferrari lost to Mercedes at its home grand prix in Monza this past weekend and the Giulia Quadrifoglio still struggles to duke it out with the BMW M3. Not in regard to out-and-out performance, but in terms of reliability and sales.
On a related note to the subject, Sergio Marchionne suggested a number of times that Alfa Romeo is eyeing a return to Formula 1. Imagined as a team fit for young and talented drivers, nothing is official as of yet, not even the Sauber-Alfa Romeo tie-up talk. As for Maserati, Marchionne suggested the FCA-owned automaker could enter Formula E at some point in the future.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News