The race stewards have imposed a €2,500 fine upon Kimi Raikkonen, after the Finn made a rather late entry into the pit-lane during third practice earlier today. The Lotus driver initially ran wide at the final chicane before deciding to turn sharply left and enter the pit-lane in a slightly unorthodox fashion, crossing the white line upon entry.
This offense has been deemed in breach of Appendix L, Chapter IV, Article 4 (d) of the FIA International Sporting Code, and has landed Raikkonen with a hefty fine. Ironically it was Kimi Raikkonen who was momentarily held up at the Monaco Grand Prix when Sergio Perez made a similar error when entering the pit-lane during the race.
A statement from the stewards read: “The Stewards, having received a report from the Race Director, have considered the following matter, determine a breach of the regulations has been committed by the competitor named below and impose the penalty referred to.”
Instead of impose a harsher grid penalty upon the Finn, the race stewards decided to fine Raikkonen as it was deemed his late entry was not dangerous and did not impede another competitor.
Kimi Raikkonen will start tomorrows race from 12th on the grid, after a slightly uncompetitive qualifying session. The Finn has previously won once before around the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, in 2005 when he was racing for McLaren.
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