Crash caused by Raikkonen losing control – Alonso

2015 Austrian Grand Prix

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Fernando Alonso said his dramatic first-lap crash with Kimi Raikkonen was caused by the Ferrari driver losing control.

The two drivers were eliminated on the first lap of the race after colliding as they accelerated away from turn two. Speaking to reporters after the race Alonso said Raikkonen had lost control of his Ferrari on his own.

“I start very good today,” Alonso explained, “I make a lot of places in turn one, turn two – I was 14th or something at that point.”

“Kimi was with the prime [soft] tyre, he exit turn two with a lot of wheelspin so the car was moving. And we were all overtaking him left and right.”

“And at one point he lost the car to the left. I was on the left, so we went both on the wall and I was lucky to don’t hit him on the head because looking at the replay I was obviously braking but my wheels were in the air. So I was close with him but luckily we are both fine.

“It was strange. I was in the wrong place. It was a very strange incident because he lost the car in fifth gear, something like that. It’s strange, very low grip.”

The stewards are investigating the collision between the pair.

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    Keith Collantine
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    45 comments on “Crash caused by Raikkonen losing control – Alonso”

    1. Trenthamfolk (@)
      21st June 2015, 15:16

      Why the massive gulf between Kimi and Vettel? I don’t understand why, with the same car, they can be so completely different? Has Kimi’s legendary car control evaporated or is there something else amiss?

      1. Something else is amiss. Ferrari should be looking elsewhere because Raikkonen looks like he’s lost whatever extra he once had. The car isn’t an excuse anymore.

      2. Why the massive gulf between Kimi and Vettel?
        Because Vettel is better than Kimi. Kimi is and always has been overrated. I’d put Kimi in the same bracket as Button – very good, just not truly top tier.

        1. pastaman (@)
          21st June 2015, 21:11

          How many top tier drivers does Button need to out-score to be considered top tier himself?

          1. How many top tier drivers Button actually did out-score? (talking about teammates, of course) Hamilton – once, then… a-and that’s all.

      3. @trenthamfolk no different to last year’s woes, I suppose. Kimi looked refreshed when he came back with Lotus in 2012 and 2013. But this second Ferrari stint looks worse than 2008/2009.

        1. @fer-no65
          Looking at it now, I think Lotus in 2012 and 2013 was actually a dynamite, but Kimi’s only yardstick was Grosjean, who himself is too erratic. So they’ve basically didn’t drive any better then they do now, but the car flattered them both greatly.

    2. So it seems it’s not the Canadian hairpin’s fault..

    3. Simon (@weeniebeenie)
      21st June 2015, 15:19

      I thought that was pretty obvious right away to be honest, you could see him fishtail as he exited and put the power down with no sign of any bumps. Not sure what Sky F1 commentators were seeing.

    4. That plate below Fernando’s car was helluva close to Kimi’s helmet. Thanks God both are okay.

    5. It is a shame that none of the cameras could capture the incident well. It just happened in the blind spots from the cameras.

      Happy to see both of them safe.

      Kimi’s seat is really under threat now. He needs to have some good races very soon. Haven’t heard back from Ferrari yet. is there something with the car which is causing the spin in 2 consecutive races.

      1. Yep, there is something. Or, to be precise, someone.

      2. why the heck they aren’t showing the Alonso camera car? that would solve the mystery on what really happened straight away ..

        1. My thoughts too.

        2. Apparently it wasn’t activated.

    6. Kimi, go home please, now! Thanks for all that marvelous races you gift us.

    7. Crash caused because… the car is built around Vettel!!!

      1. Good one :)

    8. He is not only useless, he it becoming a freaking liability.

    9. It was a very strange incident because he lost the car in fifth gear

      – this is strange. On the video, I saw that Kimi was accelarating well after the corner. He pushed the pedal fully, nothing wrong, then – a problem on the 5th gear at full throttle. It seams that the car has got too much power unexpectedly.

      1. His last two spins followed a period where the car stood still: a pit stop in Canada and the start of the race in Austria. Maybe a problem with the settings? I heard they are not allowed to switch engine modes during the first 90 seconds.

    10. Why did Kvyat had broken front wing? did he hit Raikonnen first, and then Raikonen into Alonso?

      1. @proteus: Some things are better left unanswered…lol

      2. He hit Ericsson at the start I think, or someone avoiding him.

    11. Chris (@tophercheese21)
      21st June 2015, 15:46

      It was very strange, he seemed to have massive wheel spin after he had already gained maximum traction. I mean, he had wheelspin in like 5th gear.

      Feel bad for Alonso getting taken out so early.

    12. So for Ferrari, Kimi is now old, expensive and slow? What are they waiting for?

      1. Replace Kimi with ‘Felipe’ and this comment could be from anywhere between 2011 and 2013.

        1. @npf1 It wouldn’t make it any less wrong though ;)

    13. Think people are being too harsh on Kimi. His spin in Montreal was a mechanical related issue. This looked a silly error, but stuff like this happens. He otherwise had very good races in Malaysia, China and Bahrain, while not even doing a bad job in the others.

      1. @David-A I’d agree if you were just looking at those two incidents. But Raikkonen has been very poor compared to most of his teammates, going right back to his first stint at Ferrari. Only at Lotus did he really look like he’d found any real form, but I think if you’re looking at the trend then those couple of years would appear to be the exception.

        I really like Raikkonen, and I feel sad to have to say it. But he’s just not good enough to deserve the Ferrari seat, not while there are so many other talented drivers on the grid more worthy of the opportunity.

        1. His situation at Lotus won’t look so good if you remember that at the end of his stint there, the team shifted their focus to Grosjean and suddenly he was the strongest driver bar the Red Bulls for some races.

          He looked that good there cuz he was the star of the team and Romain, the working guy.

      2. When he has a good race, he has a bad quali anyways. He’s become very average.

    14. Only the Alonso versiob of the crash is available in the article and people already started bashing kimi because Alonso said it was his fault… what if Kimi or ferrari spokesperson says that no fault with car and Alonso hit kimi car? Poeple will stil bash Kimi….. everyone needs something or other to criticize him afterall he is driving his heart out..

      1. Kimi himself admitted he “lost the car”.

      2. On the onboard camera is clear that the contact with Alonso happened after he lost the car.

    15. I got the impression from Canada that the Ferrari KERS unit automatically uses some of it’s stored energy exiting low speed corners (all cars might do this, i don’t know enough about it). So maybe 5th gear is the automatic trigger for the additional power, and Kimi is being caught out because he likes the car moving about more, so the extra power is unsettling his natural style.

    16. Fikri Harish (@)
      21st June 2015, 17:07

      Very, very amateurish.
      Reminds me of last year’s Silverstone.

      Kick him out, bring in Hulkenberg and put Vandoorne in the FI seat.

      1. I’m ok with this :)

    17. I hear the torque map they use for first lap and out lap excuse, but how come no other driver seems to have such difficulties with it?

    18. Let’s face it, he’s lost his speed.

    19. Wasn’t this car supposed to suit Raikkonen?

      He looked in decent shape in the early races but he’s tailed off a bit the last few races and qualifying is a worry. He needs to improve his form sharpish to stand any chance of being retained next season. Right now Ferrari need much better.

      Glad he and Alonso were ok though.

    20. Sorry … Hello…

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