Kimi Räikkönen: “It’s not a disaster”
As he set off ahead of his team-mate, Kimi Räikkönen was hit by his team-mate at the first corner. After starting from the bottom of the order, he managed to climb back up to 5th place.
For Kimi Räikkönen, the entire race hinged on the first corner. Unfortunately for him, he was hit by his own teammate: “I didn’t understand anything about what happened at the start. I was suddenly hit and spun around. I had a puncture on the left rear and a problem with my front wing. But I managed to get back to the pits.”
From that moment on, it was a completely different race that opened up in front of him. It was about minimizing the damage, especially after his retirement in Australia: « When I got back on the track, I found myself more or less last. The car was behaving a bit oddly, but I tried my best to climb back up the field. At first, I struggled a bit, but then I managed to recover a few positions. Obviously, fifth place is not ideal and not what we are aiming for. But after what happened, it’s not a disaster. »
For the first time this season, Scuderia managed to score points with both cars, even though Mercedes extended its lead in the Constructors’ Championship. But this first corner incident won’t affect the friendship between the two drivers: « Seb came to apologize afterward. It’s clear he didn’t hit me on purpose. Unfortunately, it doesn’t change anything for the race. But it’s only the third race of a long season… »
