Kimi Räikkönen insisted there was nothing he could have done to prevent the pit lane incident during the Bahrain Grand Prix that left one of his mechanics, Francesco Cigarini, with a double leg fracture, saying that when the green light illuminates above him, it is the signal for him to go.
Scuderia Ferrari were handed a 50,000 Euro fine for the incident that left Cigarini needing surgery on his leg, with Räikkönen being given the go-ahead to leave his pit box before the left-rear tyre had been replaced, with a top four finish, and a possible podium, going out of the window.
The Finn will now head to the Chinese Grand Prix aiming to get his season back on track, with Räikkönen dropping to fifth in the championship standings behind Fernando Alonso.
“What happened to our guy Francesco today at the pit-stop is very unfortunate,” said Räikkönen. “I feel sorry for him and hope he’s going to be OK soon. It’s always a bad thing when someone gets injured but I am sure he has the best people taking good care of him and I wish him a speedy recovery.
“As for the accident itself, all I know is that I moved when I saw the green light go on. I couldn’t have possibly realized that there was an issue with the rear left wheel, then I saw someone had got hurt and, immediately, I was told to stop by the team.
“Unfortunately something must have gone wrong and we’ll need to find out what. The car had good speed today but I had some wheelspin at the start. Anyway, there’s not much I can do now but wait for the next race, where we’ll try to do our best.”