Lewis Hamilton: Kimi Raikkonen says F1 champion deserved Austria grid penalty

Lewis Hamilton

Raikkonen: Hamilton deserved Austria grid penalty

Agree with Kimi?

Matthew Scott

Saturday 29 June 2019 17:33 Updated: 20:38

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Kimi Raikkonen said Lewis Hamilton deserved to be hit with a grid penalty for the Austrian Grand Prix, having blocked him in qualifying at the Red Bull Ring.

The Mercedes man was caught out on a slow lap in Q1 as Raikkonen caught him at Turn 2, Hamilton trying to rectify the situation by hitting the throttle and going off-track.

Raikkonen passed him with a one-fingered salute and said the stewards should be similarly unimpressed, even though the Alfa Romeo man made it through the segment and to sixth on the grid.

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"He blocked me, as simple as that! How can it be so difficult to move out of the way for people? And then there's radios and for sure every team is telling which drivers are going fast or not.

"He should have slowed down and let me pass; he cannot slow down and then speed up. He went over the kerb and into the run off… I don't know why he didn't slow down on the right hand side.

"He did, then accelerated and tried to get out of the way but it was too late. It was enough for me to have to slow down and abort that lap, so for sure he blocked me.

"When you block somebody in qualifying it should always be a penalty, it's not very difficult. That's how it has always been but I don't know what will happen. Let's see."