Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, Silverstone, 2018

Raikkonen handed two superlicense penalty points for Hamilton clash

2018 British Grand Prix

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Kimi Raikkonen has been handed two penalty points on his superlicense following his opening lap collision with Lewis Hamilton during the British Grand Prix.

The Ferrari driver locked up under braking for Village when challenging the Mercedes for third place at the start, colliding with the rear of Hamilton and sending him into a spin that dropped him to the back of the field.

The stewards investigated the incident, handing Raikkonen a ten second time penalty in the race and two penalty points to be added to his superlicense.

In their decision, the stewards described that in their view “car 44 clearly left significant room on the inside of Turn 3.

“Car 7 locked up his right front tyre, understeered and caused a collision with Car 44.”

The two penalty points means Raikkonen currently has five over the last 12 month period. Drivers who receive a total of 12 penalty points over a 12 month period will be banned for one race.

2018 British Grand Prix reaction

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Will Wood
Will has been a RaceFans contributor since 2012 during which time he has covered F1 test sessions, launch events and interviewed drivers. He mainly...

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84 comments on “Raikkonen handed two superlicense penalty points for Hamilton clash”

  1. Hamilton was total jerk in interview with Brundle. Thinks, Ferrari and Raikonnen purposefully crashed into him.

    1. And Toto Wolff backed him up; made same claim.

      1. When did Toto do that!?!? Just heard him on C4 – said nothing of the sort.

        1. Paul T Ortenburg
          8th July 2018, 16:27

          Toto did it during Sky Interview.

    2. Lewis is SORE LOOSER…….

      1. News at 11.

      2. “Show me a good loser and I will show you a loser” – from the Book of Ronisms.

        1. To be fair he said that Hamilton was a sore loser not that he should be a good loser. There is a difference.

    3. Total jerk or correct interpretation of the incident – depends on your perspective. I happen to think it was on purpose too, one of those ‘just let it drift’ moments where the driver (RAI) could clearly have made a little more effort to avoid a collision.

      1. David-BR,
        Did Kimi crash into Lewis on his own volition, or was he instructed by the team? And if the team ordered the crash at what level is that decision made? Kimi’s engineer? Arrivabenne? Marchionne? Or is that a Board-level decision?

        1. It was a revenge for 2008 Canada. “Räikkönen came to a stop at the end of the pit lane as the exit was closed, with the red indicator light on. Räikkönen was alongside Kubica at the end of the pit lane when Hamilton sped towards them not noticing the red light at first. Hamilton slid into the back of Räikkönen’s car…”

        2. I’ve no idea, just given my personal view of how it looked. These are split-second incidents that go either way – colliding or avoiding collision – based on numerous variables. Certainly there would probably be no ‘plan’ but at the same time Kimi would know very well that a nudge at that point would send Hamilton spinning. There’s a spectrum between deliberately striking and not being willing to go out of his way to avoid colliding (which is a Raikkonen trait) knowing who is likely to come out worse (not him). Much the same applies to Vettel’s clash with Hamilton in Mexico last year, part of the general Ferrari aggression. Not so much a complaint as noting a different approach to racing.

        3. I don’t think this move was made on purpose and I think it was just a stupid error by Kimi. However it is entirely possible for a team to plan these kind of things. They could easily say to their second driver that if they are in a position to do so then to take out the first drivers rival. They would not plan on the exact timing and exact way but they could instruct a driver to do such a thing.

      2. GtisBetter (@)
        8th July 2018, 16:48

        Kimi actually has a bit of a habit braking late in the first lap. This was most certainly not on purpose, but very avoidable.

        1. Avoidable like VER in Austria?!

          1. GtisBetter (@)
            8th July 2018, 17:44

            That was a fair fight. More like Verstappen with Vettel in China.

          2. Keep going man.

    4. The jerk is the person that crashed into him. The jerk is the person who can’t see what’s at stack, or expects a gentleman’s idea of racing from a team whose history show’s they aren’t above the unscruprilous act, or the unfair advantage.

      Let’s face it, Farari would do anything to win this year’s championship, anything! Anyone who thinks differently simply doesn’t understand formula 1 at this level.

      This isn’t the first time this has happened, and i doubt it will be the last. Its life, get use to it.

      1. @ajaxn, most logical explanation, but get ready to be tagged sore looser fan. I doubt Kimi would do something like that intentional but Ferrari being away from championship for too long and being this close, it is not impossible for them to do something silly like this. esp, last year’s mexican race, i 100% thought vettel did it on purpose. and he was still let off with a tap on the wrist! heck, what vettel did to bottas was exactly the same, yet he was given 5 secs, if this is the new fair rule, world became funny…

        1. i wonder if vettel tapped hamilton in next race first lap, what will fia do? give vettel the trophy? or call hamilton conspiracist? i think bottas should be let loose behind vettel once in a first corner and hear from a ferrari perspective how it will look like? i m anxious for this to happen!

          1. @mysticus What would exactly be proven if Ferrari then just end up acting exactly like a lot of people here are saying HAM and Mercedes are acting?

        2. A lot of people wear tin hats

      2. “The jerk is the person that crashed into him.” – Yet whenever Max crashes into someone, it’s never his fault. Keep’em coming oranges.

  2. And vettel got just 5 seconds and no points for basically the same thing a race before… so much for consistency.

    1. Bottas is second tier, as is Kimi. Leaders always get special treatment.

    2. Well, the stewards do say “car 44 clearly left significant room on the inside of Turn 3…” and I think we couldn’t really say that about Bottas in France, as he did squeeze – had Vettel not locked up, it would have been enough, but not now; but of course, the corners are also a bit different.

      1. Strange reasoning: So on one hand you say Bot did leave enough room, had Vet not locked up. Yet you blame Bot (partly). Now on the other hand, Ham has also left enough room, but also still not enough for a locking up Rai to not to dive into him, yet you find it fitting that Rai got a 10-sec instead of a 5-sec penalty like Vet.

    3. Initially I thought the same thing. But in the Vettel-Bottas incident, Vettel stuffed his own race too, which the stewards may see as punishment in itself. In this case, Raikkonen simply carried on, unaffected. This may explain the harsher penalty.

  3. Adam (@rocketpanda)
    8th July 2018, 16:07

    Do you think that’s what he meant by ‘fascinating tactics?’ I had wondered what he was getting at. I mean Raikkonen locked up into him? He can’t be that silly to think that was deliberate?

    1. Michal (@michal2009b)
      8th July 2018, 16:08

      Deliberate collision. Yes, he thinks that now, just as he suggested Vettel intentionally ran into him in Mexico.

      1. I think that in Mexico, it wasn’t initially clear Vettel had just been clumsy and out of control, so fair enough.

        Here, well, I wouldn’t entirely put it past Ferrari; but I can’t see Kimi actually doing that.

        1. Adam (@rocketpanda)
          8th July 2018, 16:19

          Frankly it’s ridiculous? He locked up and slid into him – it’s not like he wanted to hit Hamilton anymore than Vettel wanted to hit Bottas in France.

          1. Some drivers are not that clever. It’s reality. Now all sorts of time-wasting wild conspiracy theories to pop up online…

      2. Considering Baku last year he has a reason to consider it.

      3. Lewis needs pacifier.. he is always crying… bad, very poor driver and bad competitor.
        Ferrari has new house: Silverstone!!!!

        1. And Vettel has never, ever pulled alongside a competitor behind the safety car and then deliberately turned into them; nor does he ever whinge and whine because backmarkers don’t get out of his way if he gets within 300 meters of them…

          1. So.. If vet can Lewis can too?

          2. or lewis doesn’t brake test anyone? or merc doesn’t get pirrelli to change tyres to suit them.

  4. GtisBetter (@)
    8th July 2018, 16:07

    It feels like Kimi has been involved in more first lap crashes then others, Maybe he should rethink his driving style?

  5. It was a racing incident. Dont know why lewis is bitching. Does he expect people to move over for him. The penalty should’ve been 5 seconds. And why did bottas move over for lewis?

  6. Although this incident seemed very similar to Vettel’s in France, the stewards giving two different degrees of penalty may not necessarily be due to the driver involved, but rather different stewards looking at it differently, unless both stewards were the same, in which case this completely falls apart. When have the stewards ever been consistent? Doesn’t surprise me. Of course, it could very well still be due to the driver who caused the crash being in the championship hunt or not.

    1. This is clearly a warning by the stewards. If they are seen to take no action then it leaves the door open for more actions of this kind.

      The level of sanctions would be places lost ahead of the next race, or even sanctions against the team.

  7. So, now Toto and Lewis are accusing Ferrari and Kimi of purposely taking out Hamilton on the first lap. Ridiculous, irresponsible and idiotic assertion.

  8. Pfff… ain’t this a bit too excesive? The guy already got a 10 second penalty.

    There are no racing incidents anymore… it was the start of the race too… sure it’s not fair on Hamilton, but come on… every single move needs to be judged by the stewards these days.

    And I’m not a Kimi fan. It’s the way I feel about racing…

    1. GtisBetter (@)
      8th July 2018, 17:32

      Some penalties are automatically combined with penalty points. They are tied to it. It’s not like they think about a punishment. They charge a driver with something and that comes with a set penalty, in this case 10 sec and penalty points. I think speeding in the pitlane, ignoring blue flags and yellow flag infringment too are automatically points on the licence.

  9. I’m not sure the super licence points where needed but I hope Seb gets the same treatment next time around too.

    1. This will never happen with Golden Boy since he has gotten away with his actions in Baku before.

      1. define to get away

    2. VET also got super license points

  10. @nin13 @nicjasno2 @rocketpanda
    Yeah, you’re all right. But we can’t be too surprised, now can we? It’s standard Ham – MO all over. Always seeking to put blame on others. I think he has complained more about his team in the past 4.5 years than any other driver has, bar maybe Alo, but he had reason to hh. Fans classify the Merc sometimes as a diva, but chances are Ham is the biggest one.

    1. Adam (@rocketpanda)
      8th July 2018, 16:27

      I can understand him being unhappy at being punted off the track and into last at his home grand prix but to insinuate it was done deliberately is ridiculous? I mean, if he’d gotten away better at the start he might not have even been in the incident at all?

      1. He’s a driver whose been more close scrapes than you’ve had hot dinners. He will know, better than most, that shunt was avoidable. It would seems the stewards, with all the benifits of hindsight, do too. So what’s your point, that he should simply have remained shtum?

        This is the quivalent of soccer professionals stomping on an opponant after a tackle. It happens, we all know it happens, yet we sort of tollerate it. The stewards here are saying, with their penalities, this is a yellow card. Next time and you’re off.

  11. What a joke! A bad joke. That’s what happens when racing as hard as you can against the local hero turns and for the hero. HAM left the door wide opened, RAI went for the gap. Pure racing incident, same stuff as VER vs RAI in Austria only that it ended bad for HAM. Bad luck…

  12. Andrew in Atlanta
    8th July 2018, 16:36

    Wow, penalty points? That’s utter bs and a sign F1 is done. If the FIA can’t enforce their own rules, what’s the point of having them. This habit of retaining local stewards is the plan of a local race series, not the “pinnacle” of racing. Even the WEC has figured out it needs consistency and they can’t get out of their own way most of the time, hell IMSA has figured that out. It’s not that hard F1, get it together

    1. You do realise that the stewards are Tim Mayer, Mumtaz Tahincioğlu and Tom Kristensen?

      Unless the United States, Turkey and Denmark have all suddenly become part of the United Kingdom, the stewards which were chosen are quite clearly not “local stewards”.

      1. Andrew in Atlanta
        9th July 2018, 1:21

        If that’s true, Tim Mayer has always been an idiot and TK may have been a great racer but in terms of talking about racing and being a steward, not so much. But I’m thinking they’re not the actual decision makers as the FIA has shown in the past, stewards say one thing and magically it comes out that the “stewards” have reported the driver for further review. The FIA has shown today they have no balance in their rules and make stuff up each decision with their F2 decision for things they’ve previously ignored. And it’s not of the FIAs decision to ban a driver due to intra-team relations. Let the team ban or release a driver if he’s rude to his teammate

  13. Looked at the images of Lewis car.. No noticeable damage, and looking at his pace the damage was located between his ears.

    1. +1. HAM obviously can be a good politician. Blaming RAI for doing it on purpose?! I mean, come on… RAI?!?!

    2. The slow mo shows it was tire to tire. It might have had effects on Hamilton’s rare axel, or it could have been the effect of gravel trapped in ducts, or the floor when he came back on.

  14. This ridiculous penalty system, creating its own importance and drama. Let the drivers clear this out by themselves.
    The safest way to avoid penalties, is NOT to risk contact, but most of us want racing and a consequence of racing is risking contact!
    So don’t penalise contact between cars (race incidents) like this.

  15. Points on super license is a step too far, where were these stewards in France 2018 or Baku(2017 and 2018).

    1. VET did get points in those so…consistent? (though VES didn’t)

  16. Kimi is one of the cleanest racers out there. So to accuse him of deliberately hitting lewis is just cheap talk…very inconsistent position from the stewards as well…

      1. …or he’s a Farari driver under instructions take advantage of these ‘opportunities’ when they present themselves.

        1. GtisBetter (@)
          8th July 2018, 18:15

          Kimi has been racing for decades and has always been a fair driver. You can’t just make things up and expect people to take you seriously when all the evidence points the other direction. Why would you think the worst, based on nothing?

        2. Just like how lewis always blames his team, reliability, or someone else when he loses? remember 2016.

  17. Another stupid decision of the judges, who clearly favor the local Hamilton and Mercedes. Kimi was locked up by Hamilton and could not stop in time. Even insinuate that it was on purpose shows the lack of sporting ethics of both Hamilton and Mercedes. Again.

    1. . Even insinuate that it was on purpose

      Don’t see how the stewards did. @jorge-lardone

    2. If it had been Verstappen against Vettel I would have loved to see your reaction.

  18. Seb is unstoppable now. Raikkonen is the battering ram that will win the WDC and WCC for Ferrari.

    10 years boys. It’s coming home.

  19. Two penalty points and ten seconds. Such a bargain for a championship..

    1. Tell that to VER… ’cause he’s taking out champ contenders for much more less: to gain a place OR a win… AND NOT A CHAMP!!

  20. On the third corner of the race, and given the massive Mercedes horsepower advantage (Vettel with new softs struggled to pass Bottas with shot mediums), maybe Hamilton should have yielded that corner to Kimi and went with a switch back. If you don’t get him on the next corner, with the switch back you’ll be able to stay close and get him going into Brooklands.

    Kimi was well along the inside and it was more his corner than Hamilton’s.

    Kimi’s mistake, but if you’re fighting for a world championship don’t put your car in a position on the first lap where there’s no margin for error. I remember Singapore last year where Vettel didn’t make a mistake in that first corner collision, but was criticised for putting his car in a position where there was little margin for error.

    For Hamilton and Toto to be accusing Ferrari of tactically crashing into Mercedes cars is pretty classless and shows how spooked they are to be in a real fight for the championship.

    1. I agree here. I am always of the opinion that on the first lap with cold tyres, and on higher speed sections, you should always be looking to leave a safety margin. Hamilton might have left enough width for an F1 car to get around the corner, but to my eyes there was very little safety margin.
      He came from behind, was later on the brakes than Kimi, and turned in quite a bit more than he needed to to clear the corner.
      Yep, Kimi’s mistake, but Hamilton would have exited that corner in 3rd had he left another half car width on the inside, with Kimi behind him.

  21. He knows full well that it was he who threw away all his hard work in quali yesterday with that sub-par getaway. This accusation is just stupid and if it’s only in the hear of the moment, then it’s fine. If he persists then it’s not.

    1. Great job, wrong article

  22. Kr takes his penalties with class! he is a great team player and one of the most liked drivers in the field. this was nothing more than a driving incident. These happen at almost every race but to call it tactics goes beyond the pale. I have been watching f1 since the early 1960s and what happened on track today wouldn’t register back then. Yes it is over regulated but there is so much money at stake for advertising and driver salaries I’m not surprised that they over scrutinize every little incident.

  23. Lol what a debate… Kimi crashed in to Lewis on purpose. Right… Get your head examined.

    First lap, Lewis made a bad start, Kimi went for a gap and understeered(truth be told going for that line he would understeer anyway).

    Racing incident. Last time Vettel rammed Bottas like a train in a much worse incident and got half the penalty.

    So penalty was quite harsh I think. 5s or racing incident would be sufficient.

  24. Harry Harutunian
    8th July 2018, 21:59

    The theory that Raikkonen who will likely be searching for a ride or possibly a 1 year contract extention hit Hamilton on purpose, is truly farcical.

    1. Not to mention that of all the drivers on the grid, Kimi is about the last you should accuse of being unsporting on the track, and has a decade and a half track record to prove it.

  25. Hamilton had a bad start, Raikkonen locked-up and they collided. It happened all the time, especially at the first lap. Why this accident turned so ugly in Ham’s fan’s mouth?

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