Ferrari and Räikkönen escape penalty despite poorly attached wheel
Exiting the pits with a poorly secured wheel, Kimi Räikkönen risked a penalty from the stewards. However, they did not take any action against Ferrari and the driver, considering that the situation had been properly managed.
Ferrari and Kimi Räikkönen will not be penalized despite their unsafe release during the Finn’s second pit stop at the Australian Grand Prix.
Released onto the track despite a rear left wheel that hadn’t been properly secured—immediately signaled by the mechanic responsible for this task—the 2007 World Champion stopped his Ferrari in turn 4 of the Albert Park circuit.
Regulations on unsafe releases during pit stops are typically – even though there have been fluctuations in previous seasons – sanctioned by the stewards, especially since the legislation has been strengthened in this area during the offseason: indeed, a 10-second stop-and-go penalty must be served when the driver can remain on track, and another penalty may be added if the driver continues knowing that they were released in an unsafe manner.
However, in the case of Kimi Räikkönen, the race officials considered that the Scuderia and its driver had not failed since they had monitored the situation and stopped the car as soon as the problem was confirmed. « The team explained that the system used to monitor the stops did not indicate that the car was released in an unsafe manner, and the team asked the driver to stop immediately once the problem became apparent to both the driver and the telemetry, » as stated in the officials’ decision.
The team carefully reviewed the telemetry after the actions of the team members involved in the pit stop, and in addition, the FIA technical delegate agreed that the car was not in an unsafe release condition. The stewards are taking no action.
