Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen has put Formula One's summer shutdown to good use, using the break to marry his long-time girlfriend Minttu Virtanen in a lavish ceremony at the Abbey of San Galgano, a Cistercian monastery between the towns of Chiusdino and Monticiano in Siena, Italy.
Raikkonen met Minttu in the summer of 2013 after being introduced by a mutual friend, and they moved in together at the end of the year. The couple have a child together, 19-month-old Robin Raikkonen, who was present for this weekend's ceremony.
Also among those also attending the wedding was Raikkonen's boss at Scuderia Ferrari Maurizio Arrivabene, who was accompanied by his wife Stefania Bocchi.
Pictures from the wedding showed the bride wearing a low-backed ivory gown decorated with lace embroidery and a layered train, while Raikkonen was smartly attired in a sharp navy suit and crisp white shirt for the occasion.
Two hearts became one! - #Kimi7 and Minttu Virtanen were married yesterday in Tuscany Italy. pic.twitter.com/WBhkAMyfdx
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) August 8, 2016
This will be the 36-year-old former world champion's second marriage. He married former Miss Scandinavia Jenni Dahlman in 2004, but the couple separated in 2013 and formally divorced the following year.
Minttu has previously spoken of the stresses of living someone who is away competing around the world for so much of the year. “We follow and live with the F1 calendar and I try to arrange my timetables in a way that I could support Kimi as much as I can.
"When I’m spending the nights alone at home the loneliness strikes and that makes me sad. At those moments I have to think about the future and comfort myself on the fact that this doesn’t continue like this forever. This is how it is now but one day it will change."
Speculation that Raikkonen might soon have more time on his hands to spend with his family in 2017 have been quashed by confirmation that he will remain with Ferrari in Formula One for at least another season.
"At work, he might seem hard and selfish, but at home he's a very different person, warm and wonderful," Mintuu said.
"He wants to have more children," the 29-year-old fitness and underwear model continued. "If it was up to him he would be a dad again right away! I too would like to have a second child if pregnancy did not have so many negatives.
"But one point on which we do agree is that we do not want there to be too much of an age gap between our children," she added.
At the moment Raikkonen has more immediate pressing concerns in his day job. He is currently two points ahead of his Ferrari team mate Sebastian Vettel in the Formula One world championship and in fourth place in the standings - although that still puts him 95 points behind current series leader Lewis Hamilton.
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