Video: Kimi Raikkonen hits Adrian Sutil and denies Force India a points finish

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It’s hard to pick a single highlight from an action-packed Monaco Grand Prix. But one of the most astonishing moments of the race was Kimi Raikkonen’s late collision with Adrian Sutil.

The Force India driver had performed brilliantly up until that moment, never putting a wheel wide and lapping quickly. The team were poised to score their first ever world championship points.

Meanwhile world champion Raikkonen suffered a terrible race with a penalty due to a mix-up on the grid followed by a spin at Ste Devote. Nonetheless fifth place would have given him enough points to keep his championship lead.

However on lap 68 following a restart behind the safety car Raikkonen lost control of his Ferrari as he came over the crest of the hill before the harbour front chicane. He ploughed into the blameless Sutil and, in the exact opposite of poetic justice, Sutil was forced to retire while Raikkonen continued after being given a new front wing.

A bitterly disappointed Sutil wept after the collision. Force India’s Mike Gascoyne remarked: “Raikkonen looked like he was going to do something stupid and in the end he did.” Gascoyne also suggested that if a less experienced driver did what Raikkonen did he would receive a penalty for the next race, as Kazuki Nakajima did at the Australian Grand Prix.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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32 comments on “Video: Kimi Raikkonen hits Adrian Sutil and denies Force India a points finish”

  1. Shame on Raikkonen. I really pity Adrian and Force India.

  2. James Allen did say he was worried he might jinx it. Looks like he did.

  3. I think it was a racing incident. Raikkonen wasn’t trying to overtake Sutil at that moment, he just lost control of the car.

    But I think Force India’s request to investigate the incident is right. Who knows, something might come out of it. Raikkonen might have just lost control, or he might have braked too late, which in that case he may get a penalty.

    I feel so sorry for Sutil and the Force India team, they did absolutely everything right at Monaco, while most others lost their heads, and this is their reward. A double retirement, and the thought of what might have been.

  4. No chance of Kimi getting a penalty, and rightly so. Kaz was penalised because the incident happened under the safety car, so I’m surprised Gascoyne brought that up. Guess it is understandable seeing as they’ve lost 4th place through no fault of their own, just as Nico lost a podium because he was brake-tested by both Webber & Heikki.

    Also, it seems to have gone unnoticed that Sutil actually passed Nakajima under double waved yellows early in the race, so I suspect he may have been punished for that later on anyway.

  5. ” the team gambled on using the extreme wet tyres at the start of the race”

    Sutil was actually on the shallow wets at the start, only Piquet were on the extreme wets.
    http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/67744

    To me it looked like Kimi, if anything, braked too soon and just lost it like Coulthard did in quali.

    It was worth going to the stewards nonetheless, Nazir Hoosein has made some strange decisions in the past.
    https://www.racefans.net/2008/01/27/its-nazir-hoosein-all-over-again/

  6. Thanks for that Tengil I’ve deleted the incorrect sentence. I was sure he’d started on the extreme wets but there was a lot going on so I must have been wrong!

  7. Thumbs up to Raikkonen for saying sorry:

    I feel a bit sorry for him – but I could not do anything. I tried to slow down but there was nowhere to go and nowhere to slow down – and I lost fifth place.

    I said I am sorry for him and his team because probably they are not going to be often in the position to score a fourth position.

  8. Robert McKay
    25th May 2008, 19:12

    “Also, it seems to have gone unnoticed that Sutil actually passed Nakajima under double waved yellows early in the race, so I suspect he may have been punished for that later on anyway.”

    What lap, roughly, Rohan? I’d like to check it out on my video.

  9. The stewards have confirmed Raikkonen won’t get a penalty.

  10. I remember the Sutil pass. I think it was at the start of the first yellow. I remember looking at the live timing and expecting some sort of stewards’ investigation which never came.

  11. Sutil reprimanded for passing under yellow
    http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/67745

  12. Rob – it was right after the Alonso-Heidfeld incident. Sutil went around the outside of Nakajima.

  13. KR looks like a Ferrari with a speed wobble … thats a first… maybe need to work on the balance setup… lol

  14. Kudos to Kimi for his apology.

    as for Sutil, Kudos to him for mot putting a foot wrong in terms of the track. I loved watching him racing today. He really deserves some points for his race and Mike’s strategy.

    and anyone moaning about his yellow flag infringement, yeah well done to you guys, you armchair racers. Next race he’ll qualify 17th to 20th, and get demoted to 25th place right?

  15. No-one’s pretending these drivers have it easy but overtaking under yellow flags is a serious infringement – you’re potentially putting marshals at risk. I’m actually quite surprised he’s not got a penalty of some sort.

  16. yeah i know Keith, but since its force india.

    i’m only moaning myself because i’m a sutil and gascoyne fan, hence my comments are biased.

    at least i can admit that, the Massa fans would foam at the mouth too.

  17. good on Kimi to have had apologised(as mentioned by Keith). Sad for Force India though and more so for Sutil. Looked like he finally was gonna live up-to and do more than what he was expected to achieve this year.

  18. Shame for Sutil, but like others have already said, it seemed to be a racing incident. I have to admit that I blamed Raikkonen at the time as I was really rooting for Sutil and Force India to get the points. Either way, I’m glad he felt bad enough to say sorry (even though it obviously wasn’t intentional!) – I’m not sure every driver would have bothered.

  19. If the stewards had been doing their jobs correctly, not only would Sutil have received the punishment for passing under the yellow flags at a point reasonably near the infraction itself, but maybe he wouldn’t have been in Raikkonen’s way when he made his mistake because Sutil would have been some way back – maybe a couple of positions back, but at least he’d’ve finished!

    Now I feel as if the stewards are partly responsible for Sutil’s DNF and losing some points…

  20. I was concerned at first, after Fisichella getting penalised following the Turkey incident, that Raikkonen may have gotten the same treatment from the stewards.
    Thankfully he did not, and its on to Canada with it all the play for.
    As far as the accident went, Raikkonen showed his true class by a. keeping the car off the armco (unlike Coulthard)b. being a true gentleman and admitting that it was his fault. He really is a great champion.
    You have to admit, it has been a long time since we have seen a champion behave in such a ‘respected’ manner, coming off the back of a truly bad weekend.
    A true professional!! As for Adrian Sutil, the pictures of him weeping in his garage after retiring reminded me of Vettel in Fuji last year. He may well have scored 0 points in the race, but on merit he scored maximum points.
    He has really had a terrible start to the season, and to drive like he did, in a Force India car, amongst the Ferrari’s, was exceptional.
    I don’t often see eye to eye with Sush, but I also enjoyed watching Sutil race today.

  21. I think Tengil has a point: Raikkonen seemed to brake too soon…

    I keep asking myself what the press would say if Massa did the same…

    Anyway, that’s racing, and even the best can make stupid things once (or twice) in a while…

  22. I have never been a huge Sutil fan, but I do like it when the underdog triumphs and therefore had all fingers and toes crossed that he got a good result.

    But I said to Mr Pink at the time – when the ITV commentary was just saying that Kimi needed to keep it together and not lose a front wing on a pass on Sutil – that they would curse him and they did ! When will they learn?!

    IMO it was just a racing incident, but I am glad that Kimi apologised. Kudos to him. And Kudos to Sutil for driving well enough to be in such a good position – yellow flag incident nonwithstanding.

  23. Alianora, to take your hypothesis one step further, if Sutil had been penalised then when Raikkonen lost his car he would have crashed into… Felipe Massa!

  24. I think Sutil’s performance has been watched closely by other teams. As allways, rain is an equalizer when it comes to machinery. A drivers skill will shine through. So, how long before rumors that Sutil will replace Piquet?

  25. the Limit, i think the reason i don’t see eye to eye with you is because you actually make me rethink my own opinion.

    and i’m stubborn, but i enjoy your comments the most :)

    ctm, i hope your right, either that or force india give him a faster car.

    anyone remember last year at Spa?, Sutil bringing his Spyker up to fight with Ralf in his much faster toyota?

  26. Keith, I hadn’t thought of that – for some reason I’d assumed that Massa would have been further ahead due to a Ferrari being naturally faster than a Force India, but what exactly was Raikkonen driving?

  27. What’s all this nonsense about ‘a curse’ and the like. I seriously hope you are joking?
    So in future for example if Lewis isn’t leading, all Allen/Brundle have to do is say that whoever is ahead is definitely going to win easily. Hey presto, they have a problem and Lewis goes on to win…
    Strange way you world works.

    Consider then the possibility that the commentators are simply voicing a concern that many viewers/spectators are likely to also be thinking. Such as “Oooh, I hope Kimi doesn’t crash into Sutil!”, I know I was. This then actually happens! Was that me thinking it that made it happen or James Allen spouting his usual bllox. Maybe all of us willed the event into existence!

    Ooooh, spoooky…

  28. theRoswellite
    26th May 2008, 19:03

    Well, that was it wasn’t it! Not a procession, but a three ring circus; wet and dry, failed pit strategy and the luck of the Safety Car.

    Sutil raised my hopes like they haven’t been since D. Hill led the Hungaroring, ’97, in an Arrows…..same outcome! Fate steps out of the shadows and whacks us all upside the head. At least Sutil doesn’t have to live with losing it into the armco on the last lap, or having his result taken away for the yellow flag infringement.

    Aforementioned Fate shouldn’t be cursed too loudly, she (sorry for a non-gender neutral word choice) doesn’t only show up when we are all under a rainy cloud without an umbrella. I saw her at Australia last year, standing in the bright sun shine, watching Coulthard’s Red Bull pass centimeters from Wurz’s head; and we all know she was at Montreal with Robert. So, you won’t hear me complain too loudly about the slings and arrows of…………well, you know.

  29. Actually pSy, I was relating an observation that I’d had at the time – and for your information the telecast I was watching was delayed so the incident had already occured way before I had commented on it.

    So no, of course I don’t beleive my observation in any way affected the race outcome – I was just relating a funny story. Which, correct me if I am wrong, is what a blog is for? Opinions and observations? And humour.

    And as regards to the comments about the curse, well that has oft been discussed on this blog and others I frequent – so perhaps if you dropped in a bit more regularly you would know which context I was using. If it makes you feel better though, you can go on thinking that I really do beleive I ‘have the power’ to influence race results.

    Now, how can I rig it so James Allen manages to curse avery driver except Alonso? ;)

  30. the limit – I see the video and wonder if Kimi kept it out of the armco by hitting Sutil, unlike DC who only broke one car!
    I agree its good of Kimi to apologise, the nice man he is, but how long after the incident? And who prompted him?
    And even if the Stewards (ie Old Charlie) had decided on a penalty, it would have been to Sutil for being in the way.
    Yes, i am biased on this, and would much prefer to see better driving – even by World Champions!

  31. The way Raikkonen went into the crash reminded me of Coulthard’s crash in qualifying. He brakes and the rear gets out of shape and Sutil had no chance….

  32. pSy, the “commentator’s curse” thing dates back at least as far as Murray Walker. Often he would talk at considerable length about how well a certain driver was doing in a race (most often Herbert, but pretty much everyone except Michael Schumacher was at risk if Murray latched on to them). Since then, whenever a driver is talked about positively at length and then has some disaster befall them, the matter has jokily been attributed to “commentator’s curse”. Of course in reality there is no recorded instance of any driver having actually been taken out by a commentator’s words, but this has not stopped drivers from asking commentators not to discuss them during races if they’re doing well.

    I don’t think James will try it for Lewis’ benefit because he’s too obsessed with talking about Lewis himself, and in any case Lewis is following in Michael Schumacher’s wheeltracks in the sense of being completely immune to the “curse”.

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