Raikkonen gesture up for Laureus award

Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari’s gesture from the Spanish Grand Prix earlier this year, where they invited a young crying fan to join them in the hospitality area, is up for the Laureus “sporting moment of the year” award. After Raikkonen had retired early on lap one, television cameras focused on young Thomas Daniel decked in full Ferrari gear, crying at one of his heroes having to retire from the race.

The images caught fire on social media and prompted Ferrari to track him and his family down and invite him to the Ferrari hospitality area where he posed for a photograph with Raikkonen and was handed a signed cap. These sorts of pictures were seen as a symbol for the new direction  for the sport under its new leadership of liberty Media, who are seemingly trying to make the sport more accessible and less elitist.

The award is run across all sports, and there will be six nominees each month from August until December, with each winner then going head to head for the final award at the 2018 awards ceremony. It is only the second time the award has been handed out, with last years winners being the Barcelona U12 team consoling their Japanese rivals after beating them 1-0 in the Junior soccer world challenge.The gesture is amongst the first set of nominees, and is currently leading the vote on 53%, some way ahead of Barcelona’s miraculous comeback in the champions league against PSG.

Sam Gale