Why the FIA Penalized Kimi Raikkonen During the Hungarian Grand Prix

The Hungarian Grand Prix has officially concluded, with Lewis Hamilton emerging victorious over Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas. However, the race was plagued with a series of mishaps, including dismal weather. Many drivers fell victim to these issues. Among them was the Alfa Romeo man, Kimi Raikkonen.

As it turns out, when the drivers finished the formation lap, Raikkonen overshot his grid marker. Obviously, the FIA stewards noted that the veteran Finn was out of position and promptly investigated him.

Soon afterward, Raikkonen was handed a 5-second time penalty for being out of position on the grid.

He was not having the best time this weekend, and the penalty was simply the cherry on top. The good news was that it didn’t affect his race too badly, no more than usual.

In the end, he finished the race down in 16th place ahead of teammate Antonio Giovinazzi.

ALSO READ- Antonio Giovinazzi Believes He Must Beat Kimi Raikkonen in 2020 for His “Dreams to Continue”

Did Kimi Raikkonen deserve the penalty?

Truthfully, Raikkonen slid while trying to line up and his out-of-control car overshot the mark. Even if it was unintentional, he still broke the rules, so a penalty was justified.

However, some found it odd that Valtteri Bottas escaped a penalty in spite of clearly jumping the start.

The Finnish Mercedes driver started his car before the lights went out and stopped again. Under normal circumstances, that would have been a penalty right off the bat.

Somehow, the younger Finn escaped the consequences and managed to finish 3rd. Obviously, many will suggest that this was quite unfair considering that Raikkonen got penalized but Bottas escaped scot-free for a near similar offence.

Admittedly, Valtteri Bottas realized his mistake and promptly slowed down, losing a lot of places when the actual race began. Evidently, the FIA must have felt that the drastic position drop was punishment enough.

However, Kimi Raikkonen was starting in P20 in any case, so the penalty would have made no sense.