While everyone has been debating over who was at fault for the crash between Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen, I have been reviewing a different incident that was visible on the TV broadcast of the 2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix but attracted no attention or conversation. In my opinion, it’s an incident in which Ferrari could have been given a penalty.
The incident in question occurred under the safety car period for the crash involving the two Red Bulls. On lap 41, Ferrari made the call to pit Kimi Räikkönen for a fresh set of tyres. Ferrari gave Räikkönen the green light too early, putting the Finn alongside Stoffel Vandoorne’s McLaren. Räikkönen was fortunate enough to have noticed the McLaren, so he didn’t cross over the line that seperates the “fast lane” from the pit boxes. He remained alongside the McLaren for four pit boxes before slowing to get behind Vandoorne.
Although Räikkönen didn’t collide with Vandoorne, he could have still been given an unsafe release penalty and the incident should have at least been brought to the stewards’ attention. Under the regulations, the pit lane has two lanes. There is the “fast lane”, which is closest to the pit wall and then there is the “inner lane” that contains the pit boxes. The two lanes are divided by the big blue line. The inner lane is not intended to be driven on.
Under article 28.13.A of the 2018 Formula One Sporting Regulations, “Cars must not be released from a garage or pit stop position in way that could endanger pit lane personnel or another driver.” Violations of this rule carry a ten second spot-and-go time penalty and failing to do so would result in a grid penalty for the next race.
In this case, I believe that an unsafe release penalty could have been warranted and should have at least been considered by the stewards. Fortunately, the inner lane at the Baku City Circuit is wide, so none of the crew members from the other times were in immediate danger, but drivers should not drive on the inner lane regardless.
Most unsafe release penalties are for loose tyres, something that we have witnessed a lot of in 2018, but it’s not unheard of for the stewards to investigate situations like this one. The most recent one that comes to mind is from the 2016 Singapore Grand Prix when Valtteri Bottas came out of his pit box alongside Sebastian Vettel. That incident was an example of the dangers since the inner lane in Singapore is substantially smaller than in Azerbaijan.
The stewards reviewed the incident but felt that Bottas took the appropriate action to slow the car and get behind Vettel. However, I don’t feel that Räikkönen did the same in this most recent case. He passed by four pit boxes before slowing and getting behind the McLaren, which is twice the distance that it took Bottas to do so in Singapore.
Watch Kimi Räikkönen’s pit stop from the 2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix and decide for yourself. Should this incident have been investigated by the stewards and should it have warranted a penalty? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer or company. Assumptions made in any analysis contained within this article are not reflective of the position of any entity other than the author.
