WATCH: When Kimi Raikkonen Overruled Team Orders at Ferrari F1

Kimi Raikkonen is one of the most loved drivers of all time. He is known for his witty radio exchanges and straightforward approach. That said, let’s look at one of the controversial radio exchanges of Kimi from the days when he was driving for Scuderia Ferrari; Raikkonen is currently in his last season in Formula1 with the Alfa Romeo F1 team.

Raikkonen’s 8-year long stint with Ferrari ended in the 2018 season, where he finished third in the drivers’ championship. That being said, he had multiple memorable moments with the team. However, the Finn took a stand and disobeyed the team’s order during a race in Spa.

Kimi Raikkonen over-ruled team orders

Kimi had a disagreement with the Ferrari pit wall during the 2018 Belgium GP at Spa. The Finn was struggling with the faulty rear wing flap which did not reattach after DRS was disabled. For context, DRS is a drag reduction system that gives a speed hike of around 20 km/h down the straights and is an essential overtaking tool. The rear wings go flat while the DRS is enabled, and this reduces the rear downforce considerably.

On a track like Spa, it can prove to be very fatal if wings don’t reattach at the right time.

Kimi can be heard saying on the radio, “I cannot go anywhere like this, because I’m going to spin off.” The message he received from the team was to push further. But he did not agree with that opinion. “My DRS is open on the straight. I mean, I can’t push it. No wonder! I have zero rear ends,” he can be heard on the radio.

The debate around disobeying team order

Formula1 has such instances quite a few times. However, it is debatable if this should be used as a precedent. Kimi went to the pit lane instead and mast fans found it to be a smarter choice instead of pushing around Eau Rouge with no rear downforce.

A similar incident happened with Marcus Erricson’s Sauber during FP2 in Monza in 2018. His rear flap did not reattach when he went through the first chicane and he had to suffer a huge crash.

DRS is a double-edged sword and in situations like this one, backing off could be the smarter choice.

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