Kimi Raikkonen has been given two penalty points on his licence for failing to obey the rules regarding the pit lane entrance during the European Grand Prix.
Prior to the race drivers were told they must enter the pits if they put all four wheels to the left of the pit lane entry line, to reduce the risk of collisions at the pit lane entrance. However while racing Daniel Ricciardo at one point Raikkonen placed all four wheels to the left of the line but did not pit, cutting the line to continue around the lap.
Raikkonen was given a five-second time penalty during the race, which did not change his finishing position. He was also given two penalty points on his licence, giving him a total of five.
Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene said he had “no complaints for Kimi’s penalty: he was racing hard and overtook a lot of cars”.
Strontium (@strontium)
19th June 2016, 16:42
I think that is going too far. He made a mistake while slipstreaming, he got a penalty. Leave it at that
ColdFly F1 (@)
19th June 2016, 17:11
But that is exactly why they have that rule.
Slipstreaming a car which pits can have disastrous consequences.
Who was it again, who did this a couple of years ago? I recall the guy in the car in front feverishly checking his mirrors and not knowing what to do; braking and have an accident from behind, or not breaking and going too fast into the pit.
Sonics (@sonicslv)
19th June 2016, 17:58
@coldfly But 2 penalty point is too harsh. A reprimand or 1 point is enough I think. From the onboard video, it looks like Kimi doesn’t expect Ricciardo going to enter the pit and he disengage the slipstream before Ricciardo even entering the pit, but it was too late to not cross the line.
ColdFly F1 (@)
19th June 2016, 19:51
have a look at this: https://youtu.be/pMoi1sDgN0Y?t=28s
@sonicslv
2 points not too harsh knowing that this can (and does) happen!
Sonics (@sonicslv)
19th June 2016, 20:57
@coldfly If he has the intent to get the slipstream until the last moment, sure it’s dangerous. But it’s pretty clear Kimi doesn’t has that intent and immediately disengaged the moment he realized Ricciardo is heading to pit.
MarcoPolo16
20th June 2016, 0:37
Are you serious? Kimi was like 4-5 cars behind when he turned wich was more than enough when he crossed the line. I’ve watched the clip with Kimi severell times and it seemed very controlled. The entry lines to the box are much longer. So that those incidents rarely happen today.
FIA is just making a joke out of Formula One, thats it.
Alonso (@alonshow)
20th June 2016, 4:38
Agree. I was surprised to see the penalty, but I understood once I saw the video. I love Kimi and I’m eager to see him win again. But hey, he’s being paid millions for doing the job millions dream of. We should expect him to, at least, know the rules of the sport.
Csaba (@rapid)
20th June 2016, 9:01
@sonicslv I completely agree with you, they were onboard with Kimi when this happened and I thought my self that Ricciardo is taking the ‘line from qualifying’. Have to also admit that I got surprised when Ricciardo pulled in the pits, but it didn’t seem too dangerous. I didn’t even think it was penalty worthy to be honest (different story if he was crossing the line of the pit exit..), but penalty points?! FIA needs to get their head right.
The loose drain cover that got ejected by Bottas could have decapitated two marshals on the right hand side of the pit lane exit!! That got quickly forgotten though, although it was 10x more dangerous..
Daniel Chico (@daniel-chico)
19th June 2016, 21:04
Agree with @coldfly. The penalty have to serve as a deterrent for unwanted behaviors. As the slipstream was giving a big advantage on this track, the punishment must be higher.
Lauri (@f1lauri)
19th June 2016, 21:16
In Brazil Massa got a warning and then penalty. Did Kimi get the penalty straight away today?
BasCB (@bascb)
20th June 2016, 6:49
yes, because prior to the race the FIA had informed that drivers that they would be penalized without warning.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
20th June 2016, 9:21
@strontium He did exactly what race control feared could cause a huge crash, and exactly what drivers had been specifically told not to do.
He should feel relieved he only got a five-second penalty because when Massa did the same thing in 2013 he got a drive-through penalty.
Stu
20th June 2016, 11:07
Kimi was just slipstreaming a car he thought was taking a defensive line. As soon as he realised it was pitting he moved instantly. The issue is with the track and not Kimi. The pitlane entry is a massive human error trap.
Cyber
20th June 2016, 20:51
Correct – that design of that tarmac stretch and pit lane entry is a huge mistake!
As acknowledged by both the drivers association and FIA, who before the race demanded that the lines be made different before the Sunday race to avoid too many hazardous situations. Why should the drivers racing down the longest and fastest straight in the season be bothered with cars going off into the pit?
F1fan
19th June 2016, 16:43
Don’t be upset Kimi. Perez had to give up Second to the rules as well.
dam00r (@dam00r)
19th June 2016, 16:44
ultra harsh penalty.
AndrewW
19th June 2016, 19:31
+1
Sviatoslav (@)
19th June 2016, 16:48
I think he should be banned for several races for that. I mean, this was an extremely crazy manoeuvre!! He could’ve killed 10 racers in that move! Plus, 50 fans on the stand were scared a lot and left the race before the finish!
icemangrins (@icemangrins)
19th June 2016, 17:15
+1 if only we were to tell this to FIA straight to their face….epic
Illusive (@illusive)
19th June 2016, 17:34
I hope you heard what kimi said before you pass this judgement, he thought Ricardo was taking a different line like he was doing in qualifying.
Illusive (@illusive)
19th June 2016, 17:35
Ok, my bad :P
Stu
20th June 2016, 11:04
You’re absolutely right. I mean, why was he even driving that fast on public roads in the first place?!
dead people
24th June 2016, 17:07
His driving license must be banned
AndrewT (@andrewt)
19th June 2016, 16:52
the first thing came to mind is the pit entry in Interlagos, because it’s exactly on the racing line…
Ivan Vinitskyy (@ivan-vinitskyy)
19th June 2016, 17:01
I thought so too at first but now Keith pointed out the instructions prior to the race… fair play then…
Mike (@mike)
19th June 2016, 16:59
Can we give FOM a penalty for a ridiculous pit entry?
Gaston (@gastonmazzacane)
19th June 2016, 17:00
Drivers being penalized for poor track design. Marvelous.
Fikri (@elangsawah)
19th June 2016, 17:01
Can Tilke dan organiser given penalty points for that ridiculous pit entry design?
Sonics (@sonicslv)
19th June 2016, 17:43
5 second penalty is fair, but 2 penalty points? I think a reprimand or at worst 1 penalty point is enough. Kimi is only racing and trying to maximize the slipstream, the move itself is not dangerous unless there’s a lot other car near him at that time. I think FIA just desperately want to make a driver get the 1 race ban to set an example.
Ivan Vinitskyy (@ivan-vinitskyy)
19th June 2016, 19:24
@sonicslv, I have to disagree. If Kimi didn’t pull out of slipstream of the car in front there would have been a huge crash when the car in front suddenly started to brake. There are some tracks where its unavoidable, here it was hence the instruction from FIA not to cross the line…
As for punishment, again 5 sec is not fair because it made no difference to Kimi’s race. Penalty points will at least make him think and remember the rules next time he races.
Sonics (@sonicslv)
19th June 2016, 21:03
@ivan-vinitskyy But he did pull out the moment he realized Ricciardo is going to pit. It’s pretty clear he didn’t intent to get the slipstream of a car that heading to pit. 2 point is too harsh for this situation I think.
Also I think the 5s penalty is showing that the stewards is acknowledging it’s just a honest mistake from Kimi part. A 5s race penalty and 2 penalty points is almost the extreme opposite of how harsh a penalty can be given (max 3 penalty points for single offense iirc), which doesn’t make sense at all.
Ivan Vinitskyy (@ivan-vinitskyy)
20th June 2016, 12:51
@sonicslv It doesn’t matter if he did or did not. It’s not about intentions either. It’s about safety.
Kimi can do the same move 20 times and 19 of those would have the same outcome but that 1 could have hurt him or other drivers. FIA (and drivers + public) doesn’t want to accept that 1 instance and making this rule ensures drivers don’t have those 20 tries in a race.
As for severity of the penalty I simply don’t know how can you can say 5s penalty and 2 penalty points are opposites. Both can lead to driver losing points, both can lead to absolutely no result on points (as is most likely to happen). Opposites would be a reprimand and disqualification after winning a race.
Mosquito
19th June 2016, 21:38
Last year Verstappen got 2 penalty points for not giving back a position after getting out of bounds while passing Button. If that was dangerous enough for penalty points than this was too.
Would prefer if they just used those penalty points for causing collisions and stuff like that.
KJR1959 (@kjr1959)
19th June 2016, 18:02
There have been worse things happening on the track with nothing done whatsoever F1 continues to fall
Daniel Chico (@daniel-chico)
19th June 2016, 18:06
Fair penalty. For all effects, the space beyond the line does not belong to the track. It has to be harsh to discourage drivers from getting over the limit just to get some more slipstream.
George (@george)
19th June 2016, 18:27
I don’t know if they had a marker or anything on the fence, it must be hard to judge when you’re going 200+mph though. It would probably have been better to have a dotted line or something as a warning that it’s coming up, a few others were pretty close to cutting it too.
BasCB (@bascb)
20th June 2016, 6:51
yes, they did put an extra marker on the fence to mark the start of the pit entry @george. They added it after drivers complained the line was hard to make out on the somewhat bumpy track (at the same time they added some lenth to the line)
Bryan
19th June 2016, 18:55
Didn’t Ricciardo and (I think) Nasr do the same thing? Or did all 4 wheels not cross the pit entry line? We saw them overtake close to the pit entry line on the world feed.
Teoff
19th June 2016, 19:15
Kvyat gets 3 points for crashing into someone two times in the space of one corner, and Kimi gets 2 for crossing the line? Aight.
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
19th June 2016, 20:28
Lol yea, Kimi got a big penalty for a small mistake.
But it is a small mistake, that could result in an airplane like accident at 350kph.
Strontium (@strontium)
19th June 2016, 21:41
But it didn’t
MikeeCZ
19th June 2016, 21:35
Too harsh, as soon as Kimi realized Daniel is pitting he broke off the slip stream. He did not intentionaly slipstream a pitting car for which case this rule is meant.
Plus saying that the penalty did not change his finish position is also unsure, he didnt seem to be exactly fighting for that position as he knew there is no point in putting himself into danger of crashing. 4th is way better than DNF last time i checked.
marcusbreese (@marcusbreese)
20th June 2016, 1:00
One mistake that had no consequences and that he appeared to back out of as soon as he realised – way too harsh. FIA flexing its muscles and nobody is impressed. Even though he was forewarned, it’s not like it happened multiple times or he gained a huge advantage for it.
Janet54321
20th June 2016, 11:58
The rules are applied erratically. The drivers cut the chicane and put 4 wheels over the lines almost as a rule but this isn’t enforced. If they were not gaining an advantage by doing so they wouldn’t do it.