Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari have escaped a penalty despite an unsafe release during his second pit stop of the Australian Grand Prix.
The Finn pitted on lap 40, but was given the signal to exit his pit box before the left-rear mechanic had given the thumbs up from his side. He then pulled off track at Turn 4, realising the error.
“We had an issue and the wheel didn’t go fully as it should, so it came loose,” said Raikkonen after the race.
The FIA investigated the unsafe release, but chose not to impose a penalty because he stopped immediately after the team notified him of the problem.
“The team explained that the system used to monitor the pit stops gave no indication that the car was in an unsafe condition when released and the team caused the driver to stop the car immediately the problem was apparent from the driver and telemetry,” read a stewards report.
“The team had paid close attention to the telemetry after the actions of the team members involved in the pit stop and further that the FIA Technical Delegate accepted the car was not in an unsafe condition when released the stewards took no further action.”
