Kimi Raikkonen receives 3 penalty points

The Ferrari driver failed to slow for a double yellow flag, was it worth it?

The Daily Apex
Aug 28, 2017 · 2 min read
Max Verstappen stopped on track

During the Belgium Grand Prix this past weekend Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen failed to slow his car sufficiently when a double yellow was waved. The flag was for Max Verstappen and his car which was off to the side.

The location of the flag was on the straight after Eau Rouge which is an extremely high speed area. Max Verstappen’s car was pulled over behind a barrier putting no one in harms way.

When watching the onboard footage you can tell Kimi does not slow whatsoever. But did he need to? Technically yes, because those are the rules. However, there is something to be said for his point of view. His defense was no one was on track and the car was behind the barrier. The footage shows that its very hard to notice that.

The top right is where Verstappen is, Kimi is almost at full speed

The difference is that these drivers have some of the best vision in the world. The speed things come at them is incredible and often they are looking very far ahead unlike normal road drivers.

From this point of view you can say Kimi did not have to slow but because he blatantly disregarded a double yellow, the penalty had to be strict. Kimi received a 10 second stop-go penalty during the race and 3 penalty points on his license.

This may seem strict but rules are rules. The FIA does not mess around with safety anymore, the rules aren’t made to be determined by how a driver sees a particular situation. After all these are racing drivers…they are going to push the limits of everything including the rules.

Kimi was able to rebound from the stop-go penalty so in a way it was worth it. Kimi also has a pretty good driving record in the last 12 months unlike Torro Rosso driver Daniil Kvyat who is at risk for a race ban. The FIA still had to be strict to set a precedent for other drivers.

The Daily Apex

Providing you daily motorsport updates with a splash of interesting opinions

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The Daily Apex

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Providing you daily motorsport updates with a splash of interesting opinions

The Daily Apex

Providing you daily motorsport updates with a splash of interesting opinions

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