Kimi Raikkonen, Alfa Romeo, Spa-Francorchamps, 2019

Raikkonen tight-lipped over injury which prompted Ericsson call-up

2019 Belgian Grand Prix

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Kimi Raikkonen gave away little about the leg injury he suffered during the summer break.

Alfa Romeo has called reserve driver Marcus Ericsson to Spa this weekend, missing his scheduled IndyCar race in Portland, so he is ready to stand in if Raikkonen is unable to race.

Raikkonen confirmed he is nursing an injury to his left leg this weekend. “I pulled a muscle and that’s about it,” he said. “We’ll see what happens.”

Asked how he had hurt his leg Raikkonen said: “Sport, injury, getting old.”

He said having Ericsson on standby for the weekend is the right thing to do under the circumstances.

“Obviously we need to have some back-up plans,” said Raikkonen. “It would be really stupid not to have our third driver in case we wouldn’t be driving then it’s the worst-case scenario. There is a reason why every team has a third driver.

“I think it’s a normal story. It’s a difficult situation for him also because he had a race but that’s how it is.”

Raikkonen said he won’t know whether the injury will affect his ability to take part in the race until he gets in the car. “We will find out tomorrow,” he said.

“Obviously it’s impossible to try, we don’t have a simulator and that doesn’t tell an awful lot anyhow. So we will see. In my head it should be fine.”

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27 comments on “Raikkonen tight-lipped over injury which prompted Ericsson call-up”

  1. Did he slip on some ice-cream?

    1. I heard moose riding.

  2. What’s the point? Only Kimi can score points with that car. Put Ericsson in the car and you get one 17th place. Would be wiser to save engine and not to rum car if they can’t have Kimi.

    1. Are you drunk, or just mad?

      1. Jelle van der Meer (@)
        29th August 2019, 19:31

        It is one of the smartest and truest insights that I have seen recently in the comment sections.
        Really – Ericsson was already not great – has been out for a while so he is probably right saying that whether Ericsson drives or not it will not impact the Alfa point’s tally.

      2. Bruno Verrari, the poster in question is fanatically devoted to Kimi – given that Ericsson would have to replace Kimi if Kimi is unfit for this race, it is perhaps not surprising that the poster in question is being hostile to an absurd degree.

    2. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
      29th August 2019, 21:34

      He’s certainly better than giovinazzi. Even if giovinazzi got his points in Germany, that would leave him with 5 points – same as Ericsson last year. And it is pretty clear that the car is far better than last years Sauber. He may not be on Kimi’s level but to say imply there is no point having another driver as only Kimi can score points is a bit silly to say. If Ericsson managed points several times last year, he easily would have a chance this time out. He scored last year at this circuit.

      1. That is a no brainer as i think everyone is better then Giovinazzi! If you crash the car 2 times in the 2 races you do for a team your bad… (Giovinazzi i am talking about)

    3. Sponsors pay to see their logo on track – no sponsor, no car.

      1. exactly. also, could be a crazy race, loads of cars crash, then ericsson gets some points just by finishing. it would be utterly, utterly ludicrous for an F1 team not to enter a car just because their star driver isn’t fit.

  3. And that comes about a month after Raikkonen said that he does what he wants with his free time. Alfa can do nothing about It.

    He said something like “If they complain I’ll leave”.

    Maybe the injury is not related to “dangerous” activities. Maybe It is. Hope he can race. SPA may suit Alfa well due to Ferrari Power.

    1. You do know his neigbours are suing him for building a MX track on his property, don’t you?

  4. Hopefully he doesn’t pull a Massa, decides to pull out just before Q.

    1. Usually, when Kimi is injured that comes because he is not paid
      We can suspect same story as in Lotus time

  5. Looks like Iceman partied too hard)

  6. Pulled muscle …. best treatment is ice, lots of ice-cream.

  7. “Raikkonen tight-lipped” isn’t really news…

  8. ‘getting old,’ LOL. – Not too tight-lipped, though, so slightly misleading/contradicting title.

  9. i hope to see marcus on the new car at least for this race :)

    1. I also hope to see him IN the new car!!!

  10. Astounding that Kimi pushing 40 is not yet wise enough to maintain his health and well being and prepare for the upcoming event. Words fail.

    1. He pulled a muscle. Doing sports is exactly what you should do as a F1 driver to stay fit.

    2. What an amazing comment, clearly not a sports person in anyway, he could of done it easily playing tennis/squash etc etc. Even the top paid athletes have injuries in their own sport.

  11. Drunken fall….

  12. In true Kimi style, he answered how he got the injury.

    “Sport. I always said it is more dangerous — drinking is probably safer,” he said. “Usually you don’t get injured, you just get hungover.”

  13. Wife probably kicked him in the middle leg after one night out too many.

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