Alfa Romeo team fined for Raikkonen detached wheel

The Alfa Romeo team will be sending €5,000 to the FIA on Monday morning as the result of a fine levied on the Swiss outfit for a wheel detaching on Kimi Raikkonen's car.

The Finn was lingering down in 12th place in Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix when he stopped for a tyre change during the race's second safety car period.

On the restart three laps later on lap 54, Raikkonen's right front wheel came loose as he entered Turn 9 and then detached itself completely, forcing the Alfa driver to stop his car on the main straight against the pit wall.

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A subsequent post-race investigation revealed that a wheel nut had been cross-threaded during the previous tyre change.

"Having examined photos of the damaged wheel and the axle shaft, it is evident that the wheel nut of the RHS [right-hand side] front wheel got cross-threaded during the wheel change, which was not identified by the wheel gun operator," read a statement from the Austrian Grand Prix stewards.

"As a consequence, the front right wheel went off when the car was back in the race.

"The Stewards accept, however, that neither the team, nor the driver had the opportunity to realise that the car was in an unsafe condition and therefore did not stop the car.

"Taking into account these circumstances, a fine of €5000 is appropriate."

In a race of high attrition that counted none retirements, Raikkonen's misfortune was somewhat counter-balanced by teammate Antonio Giovinazzi's ninth-place finish.

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