Formula One steward Mika Salo has defended his decision to penalise Scuderia Ferrari Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen during the 2017 Belgian Grand Prix, which took place last weekend at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. The 2007 Formula One world champion was found guilty of failing to slow through a double-waved yellow flag zone, as Max Verstappen’s Red Bull car was being recovered.
Kimi Raikkonen was running in fourth place when he received the penalty and was forced to pull into the pits which dropped him down the order in seventh place. However, the sheer pace of the Scuderia Ferrari SF70H car and the safety car allowed him to climb back up to finish fourth. Without the stop/go penalty call, Scuderia Ferrari’s Finnish driver would have most likely finished on the podium, behind Lewis Hamilton and his Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel.
Formula One steward Mika Salo explained his decision at the end of the 2017 Belgian Grand Prix: “It is a rule – it was a double yellow.” – the former Ferrari driver told the Finnish TV company C More Entertainment – “We got information showing that everyone lifted the throttle with the exception of Kimi. There were people on the track side of the fence pushing the car. Anything can happen and Kimi cannot make that judgement. A rule is a rule – it is that simple.” – Mika Salo said, as reported by Italian national sports newspaper based in Rome Corriere dello Sport.
