Kimi Raikkonen Inherits Podium After Sebastian Vettel Is Penalized In

Kimi Raikkonen was classed third at Hockenheim having started back in tenth place.. He crossed the line in fourth, but with the stewards penalizing Sebastian Vettel 20 seconds for passing Jenson Button off the track, Kimi inherits the podium position even though he missed out on the rostrum bubbly.

The Finn qualified a disappointing tenth in the rain affected session but made an aggressive start to Sunday’s race, making up two places on the first lap and then pulling off a thrilling maneuver on Force India’s Paul di Resta around Turns 7 and 8. Having started on the soft compound tyre, he went for the same again on Lap 11 but his middle stint was a little underwhelming. He held out until Lap 38 to switch to mediums, before passing Michael Schumacher and finishing behind the McLaren of Jenson Button.

Romain Grosjean had a less rewarding race, making contact with Bruno Senna and coming off at the hairpin on Lap 1 with a broken front wing. He dropped to the back as he pitted for a replacement, and two more times for fresh tyres, opting for a soft-medium-medium-medium strategy. He finished in 18th.

Romain drops to eighth in the drivers’ championship with 61 points, while Kimi rises to fourth with 98. Winner Fernando Alonso extends his lead in the championship to 154 points. Lotus drops one point behind McLaren to fourth in the constructors’ championship.

Kimi Raikkonen: “We did the best we could given where we started, but the chance of victory was lost on Saturday, and not for the first time. We didn’t have much grip in the wet unfortunately. Therefore we can be quite happy with where we ended up today. My start was okay, but I had to slow down to avoid hitting Lewis [Hamilton], which let Paul [di Resta] past, and then I went after him. The car worked well today, and if we had started higher I think we could have done a bit better, but there are positives to take to the next race.”

Romain Grosjean: “We were on the back foot this weekend having been given a five-place grid penalty for changing the gearbox. Nothing went right today. It’s a shame because I had a good start and made up some places through Turn 1. Then on the straight there was contact, and that was the race ruined. I’m not sure exactly what happened, I need to watch the on-board. My car was badly damaged with a broken wing and a puncture. I’m hoping for a much better weekend in Hungary.”