A scary crash on the straight for Kimi Raikkonen has caused the Brazilian Grand Prix to be red flagged with just twenty laps on the board in extremely difficult conditions.
Following a safety car start due to inclement weather at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, the race was run initially for seven laps before getting underway, and drivers were beginning to gamble on intermediate tyres.
However a crash for Marcus Ericsson approaching the final turn caused the safety car to return to the track, with the Sauber F1 Team driver hitting the outside wall after aquaplaning on intermediate tyres, before coming to rest on pit entry.
Max Verstappen did well to avoid the stricken Sauber as he made a move to change to intermediate tyres, and the pit lane was immediately closed with Ericsson’s car in a dangerous position.
Unfortunately for Daniel Ricciardo, he had already committed to the pit lane to make his own switch to Intermediates, and completed his stop but earned a five second time penalty.
When the race resumed, Raikkonen lost control of his Scuderia Ferrari machine on the exit of the final turn despite still being on full wet tyres, and was lucky to avoid being hit by other drivers as he spun across the track.
Almost immediately, the race was suspended and Lewis Hamilton led the field into the pit lane while the track was cleared and the conditions analysed by Charlie Whiting and the stewards.
