Raikkonen knew about Alfa front wing issue
Kimi Raikkonen says he was aware of the front wing issue which caused him to start from the pit lane in Baku after China.
Kimi Raikkonen suspected an issue with the Alfa Romeo’s front wing before he was ordered to start from the pit lane in Baku.
The Finn revealed that he had damage to the front wing after the previous race in China, but Alfa were not able to fix the issue before the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and so knew there could have been a regulation issue.
Raikkonen was ordered to start from the pit lane in Baku by the stewards after the front wing of his Alfa Romeo was found to have been deflected more than the 5mm permitted.
Kimi Raikkonen excluded from qualifying results after front wing violation.
He becomes the third driver to be starting the #AzerbaijanGP from the pit lane.https://t.co/jxsJ6ye5xf #F1 pic.twitter.com/VKfX3ht5XY
— Planet F1 (@Planet_F1) April 28, 2019
He would ultimately recover to finish P10 and claim a point, though the 39-year-old didn’t find out about his punishment until the morning of the race.
“I don’t know what happened, I got a message this morning,” Raikkonen told the media in Baku.
“Last race I had an issue at the end of the race with a broken stay on the front wing and we lost the downforce. So probably it is a similar thing that has caused it, unfortunately.
“We knew the issue after the last race but we didn’t have time to produce a new one so this is what you get. It surely doesn’t make us faster but this is what it is. Hopefully then it’s fair for everybody.”
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