Kevin Magnussen and Kimi Raikkonen were involved in a bizarre Q3 incident wherein Raikkonen raced Magnussen on the main straight and got in front of him on Turn 1 before pulling out of the lap.
Magnussen thus was left stranded with a below-average lap and hence had to settle for P9 in Q3.
Magnussen was absolutely furious with what had transpired on the race track but had already conceded that Raikkonen would escape any sort of penalty, as that is how things work in F1.
The FIA stewards have cleared Raikkonen of intentionally trying to hinder Magnussen’s lap and hence the Finn has received no kind of penalty for tomorrow’s French GP.
“The Stewards examined video evidence of the incident and the radio communication of both drivers concerned,” FIA’s statement read
“The Stewards heard from Kimi Raikkonen, the driver of car 7, Kevin Magnussen, the driver of car 20, and the team representatives.
“There is no doubt that the ‘push’ lap of car 20 was thwarted by the proximity of Car 7 which overtook car 20 just after it had started the lap. This was the last opportunity for each driver to achieve a fast lap in Q3.
“The Stewards noted that the driver of car 20 was unsure of the intentions of the driver of car 7 during the last half of the previous lap, where car 20 was on an ‘out’ lap and car 7 had aborted a push lap. Car 7 did slow towards the end of that lap but when compared to [sic] a previous out lap in Q3, there was a similar pattern of slowing in the same area.
“The Stewards are not of the view that the driver of car 7 ‘unnecessarily impeded’ car 20 (refer Article 31.5 of the Formula One Sporting Regulations). In addition, the Stewards do not consider that the driver of car 7 drove ‘unnecessarily slowly’ (refer Appendix L Chapter IV Article 2e of the International Sporting Code).
“Despite the negative effect the incident had on the lap of car 20, the Stewards decline to take any further action.
“All competitors are hereby reminded of their right to appeal certain decisions of the Stewards, as set out in the International Sporting Code and related regulations, including the time limits for such appeals.” they concluded.
