Kimi Raikkonen absolved his team of blame after failing to start the Malaysian Grand Prix due to a technical problem.
The Ferrari driver experienced a technical problem on his car on his way to the grid. He was pushed away from his starting position moments before the formation lap began and did not join the race.
However he said his team were not to blame for the problem. “It’s nothing that they did wrong,” he said.
“The car was working perfectly yesterday and all weekend and suddenly out of nowhere we had some issue today. It’s not blaming anybody, it’s one of those things that unfortunately happens.”
Raikkonen said the team’s problems was particularly disappointing given how competitive they had been at Sepang. Sebastian Vettel was unable to take part in qualifying after suffering a power unit failure during final practice which could not be repaired in time.
“It’s not been the easiest weekend,” he said. “I think car-wise, speed-wise we’ve been very good this weekend. But unfortunately Seb had issues yesterday with the other car and us today.”
“It’s disappointing but there’s nobody to blame. It’s one of those things.”
Raikkonen’s retirement is Ferrari’s first race-ending technical failure of the year. He has failed to finish on two other occasions due to first-lap crashes.
2017 Malaysian Grand Prix
- Hamilton queried the FIA over Vettel’s steering wheel in Malaysia
- Vettel: Stroll changed direction without looking
- Ferrari ‘not fully confident’ of fix for fault which stopped both cars in Malaysia
- New video from Stroll’s car reveals Vettel crash view the stewards didn’t see
- 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix team radio transcript
Sravan Krishnan (@sravan-pe)
1st October 2017, 9:41
This was cruelty
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
1st October 2017, 9:43
And that’s how another Kimi chance and Ferrari chance crumbles. The weight of the world.
Tifoso1989 (@tifoso1989)
1st October 2017, 10:14
Now I get it why Lorenzo Sassi the head of engine department was transferred by Marchionne himself to the road car division midseason
iCarbs (@icarby)
1st October 2017, 11:05
Just another gift for Mercedes, losing two weeks worth of championship points… must really hurt.
Martin
1st October 2017, 11:53
When I was thinking of what the most likely way Ferrari would get Kimi out of Sebs way today I never considered they’d just put his car on a trolley and wheel it off of the starting grid.
n0b0dy100
1st October 2017, 18:57
😝 brutal!
Nycf1fan
1st October 2017, 15:42
Could it really be that Ferrari just gave Seb kimis turbo or pu?
George (@george)
1st October 2017, 16:07
I’m pretty sure the parts are marked so they can’t be transferred, would be way too easy to cheat otherwise.
Rai 1
1st October 2017, 19:08
Anything is possible with Ferrari and FIA to keep the championship alive!
tore
1st October 2017, 20:41
Wild theory from ex-Ferrari driver Mika Salo: Ferrari swapped numbers on their cars overnight as Seb had likewise issues with his car the previous day as Kimi had on race day!
Gabriel (@naylamp)
1st October 2017, 19:59
this nonsense again. c’mon.
n0b0dy100
1st October 2017, 19:00
Why do I torture myself supporting this guy? Ferrari is gift wrapping the title for Lewis.
Antonio
2nd October 2017, 21:13
This could be an interesting historical moment for Kimi as he won his first Grand Prix in Malaysia in 2003 and he could win the last one in 2017. Everyone claimed that he was the strongest rival and, probably, the front-runner as well for the victory.