The 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix proved to be a spectacular race, with many incidents and unpredictable events on the Baku City Circuit, but unfortunately it was not a Sunday to remember for Kimi Raikkonen, as the Scuderia Ferrari driver was first hit by Valtteri Bottas immediately after the start and then had a tyre puncture due to a collision between the two Force India cars, which eventually compromised his chances of fighting for a place on the podium.
At the end of the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, a disappointed Kimi Raikkonen explained the outcome of the race: “Today many things happened that were out of our hands and unfortunately we paid a big price. After the start, at the second corner, I got hit by Bottas; I don’t know what he was doing, he braked very early but probably he noticed that and let the brakes off, went too fast and hit me. Because of that the rear end of my car hit the wall and I had a massive damage. We were able to keep going but then I was unlucky. The two Force Indias collided, some debris flew off and destroyed my rear tire. As a consequence my whole floor and the rear wing were damaged and we decided to retire. When the red flag stopped the race we thought that we might try and go back on track. The mechanics did and amazing job, managed to change the floor and the endplate in a very short time. But obviously my car was still not perfect and we decided to stop. It’s not a good day when your car retires twice in a race. I am disappointed because, without all these things happening, my car would have been good. There’s nothing else we could have done, we tried our best.” – the Scuderia Ferrari Finnish driver explained, as reported by the Italian media.
Daniel Ricciardo won the race for Red Bull Racing, meaning that Kimi Raikkonen is now fifth in the Formula 1 Driver Standings, ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix, which will take place in two weeks time.
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