Kimi Raikkonen to Join Gasly in Pit Lane After Disqualification

As if Alfa Romeo’s race could not get any worse, Kimi Raikkonen will start from the pit lane. As it turned out, a failed front wing test on his car resulted in disqualification. Now, he will join the liked of Pierre Gasly and Robert Kubica for a pit lane start.

So now, the grid has been whittled down to just 17 cars lining up on the grid. Raikkonen’s disqualification also promotes Charles Leclerc to P8 in the Ferrari, inspite of crashing out on Saturday.

According to an FIA report: “A front wing flap deflection test was carried out on car number 07. As the front wing flap deflected more than 5 mm under a load of 60 N and as this is not in compliance with Article 3.9.8 of the 2019 Formula One Technical Regulations.”

Article 3.9.8 of the official FIA technical regulations states: “Any part of the trailing edge of any front wing flap may deflect no more than 5mm, when measured along the loading axis, when a 60N point load is applied normal to the flap.”

Before being hauled up, Kimi Raikkonen had qualified ninth place but moved up one spot owing to a 10-place grid penalty for teammate Antonio Giovinazzi, who qualified eighth.

Meanwhile, Gasly was excluded from qualifying prior to the actual session. The reason behind punishing the Frenchman was that he failed to take to the FIA weigh bridge when directed, during Free Practice 2.

Finally, coming to Robert Kubica and the troubled Williams team, the Polish driver crashed in Q1. His car required a change in parts and the Williams team confirmed that it would be a pit lane start for the 34-year old.

In all honesty, Raikkonen, Gasly and Kubica are better off starting in the pits for the race. This is because, given the nature of the track, there is a chance for a little chaos, if the 2018 race is any proof.