Kimi Raikkonen once took his Lotus off the track at the 2012 Brazillian Grand Prix hoping to rejoin the race by taking a pitlane shortcut.
The 2012 Brazillian GP is remembered for many F1 historical events and one of them includes the interesting drive of Kimi Raikkonen in his Lotus. Amidst the battle for the championship title, Raikkonen went off the track to take a shortcut.
It was lap 52 and the weather had made the track soggy and slippery. The Finnish driver couldn’t see clearly because his visor was fogged and dirty as he stormed through the track. At the last corner of the track, the Iceman skidded off the track and into the escape road.
He then found the door to the support race pit lane closed and had to chop through the grass to rejoin the track where he eventually finished P10.
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What else makes the 2012 Brazillian GP so memorable?
The Brazillian GP has a lot of historical events to its name. From Sebastian Vettel winning his 3rd championship title in a row to the track becoming the end of Michael Schumacher’s career in F1. The
The Grand Prix weekend marked the 306th race of the F1 legend before he announced his retirement from the motorsport for the second time. The race at the Sao Paulo circuit in 2012 also became the 15th and last win of Jenson Button’s F1 career.
But the Raikkonen event is etched in the memories of fans becoming one of the many examples of the Finnish driver’s witty attitude.
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Kimi Raikkonen knew what he was doing while going off-track
After the race, the 2007 world champion revealed that he knew where he was going as he had done years ago in 2001.
Speaking to the media after the race, the Finnish driver said that when he did the same thing all those years ago, the gate to the support race pit lane was open.
“I know this as I did the same thing in 2001 and the gate was open that year. Somebody closed it this time. Next year I’ll make sure it’s open again…” Raikkonen added.
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