Haas’ Nikita Mazepin was furious after crashing into Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen pit lane at the Hungarian Grand Prix. However, according to Raikkonen, a problem with Alfa Romeo’s traffic light release system was the ultimate cause of the crash.
Raikkonen and Mazepin, along with 12 other drivers, pitted before the fourth lap after the restart of the race after the red flag on the Hungaroring, when Raikkonen drove out of his pit directly into the path of Mazepin’s Haas VF-21 and caused irreparable damage to the Suspension of the Russian.
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Räikkönen was able to continue – but despite the pit exit with a promising P8, the Finn was able to recover to 11th place with a 10-second time penalty for the uncertain release (who was 10th after the disqualification of Sebastian Vettel). And after the race, Raikkonen blamed Alfa Romeo’s pit release system for the collision with Mazepin.
“The start of the race was a bit of what you would expect in these conditions, with a hectic first lap and a lot going on,” said Raikkonen.
“We looked okay until we got a penalty, which pretty much compromised our race. There was a problem with the traffic light release system and we collided with Mazepin. Up to the point of punishment we were deep in the points, but it was just too much to come back from below. “
Kimi Raikkonen: Alfa Romeo “gave away” points with a Mazepin pit accident
After all, Raikkonen did better than his team-mate Antonio Giovinazzi, who also received a 10-second stop and go penalty after being caught too quickly in the pit lane. Giovinazzi finished last in 14th place.
“It just wasn’t our day,” complained the Italian. “It was a race where we had a chance to take home a good result and we didn’t make it, but it is what it is. With the penalty after the restart, our race was pretty compromised.
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“It’s hard to say how much pace we really had as I spent a lot of time in traffic, but we were pretty good with clean air, so not finishing in the points is disappointing.”
The post Raikkonen blames traffic light errors for the Mazepin pit accident first appeared on monter-une-startup.
