Räikkönen penalized 5 grid positions at Sepang
Gearbox change on the Lotus E20 of the Finn, who will therefore drop 5 places on the starting grid on Sunday.
Tough weekend for Finnish fans as their two representatives will drop 5 places on the starting grid, Sunday, for the Malaysian Grand Prix. While Heikki Kovalainen had known his penalty since last Sunday for violating article 40.8 of the sporting regulations, Kimi Räikkönen will also lose five places from his qualifying position after being forced to change his gearbox.
Indeed, just after the end of the second free practice session of the day, the Lotus team stated on its Twitter account: A bit more work for Kimi’s mechanics this evening. A problem with his gearbox, so we’re changing it.
Since then, the Enstone team has confirmed the information to our colleagues at Autosport, indicating that the issue was related to the Finnish driver’s off-track excursion during the Australian Grand Prix, during which his radiators became clogged with grass, causing the gearbox to overheat during the race. Not being certain that the gearbox could last the distance of a Grand Prix, especially on a track as demanding as Sepang, the team preferred to change the gearbox and accept the penalty provided by the regulations.
The 2007 world champion, who was hoping for a more peaceful weekend than in Australia, will therefore need to secure a good qualifying session to hope for a decent place on the starting grid.
