Kimi Raikkonen's points finish at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix has been taken away after the Finn was handed a 30 second penalty post-race. The Alfa Romeo driver finished the topsy-truly event in ninth spot after staying ahead of Alpine's Esteban Ocon in the closing stages of the race. However stewards investigated Raikkonen's behaviour prior the resumption of the race following the crash between Valtteri Bottas and George Russell that brought out a red flag. "On the lap before the re-start following the race suspension, Raikkonen spun at Turn 3. Art 42.6 indicates that the driver may retake his position, so long as he does so prior to the first safety car line (SC1). At first the team instructed him to do so, but then told him to hold his position," read a FIA press release. "Art 42.6 then indicates that should a driver fail to take his position he must enter the pit lane and can only re-join the race once the whole field has passed the pit exit. "Art 42.12 indicates that during a rolling start, once the safety car turns its lights out, “No driver may overtake another car on the track until he passes the Line...” In this case, the driver caught up to the cars ahead of him between Turn 13 and 14, but the safety car turned its lights out at approximately Turn 10. "This would appear to be a contradictory instruction and the team instructed the driver to not regain his position, fearing that this would create a safety issue in the wet conditions. They radioed the Race Director, but there was no time for a response between their call and the restart. "The penalty is a mandatory penalty, and therefore the Stewards consider that they have no alternative than to apply this penalty for reasons of consistency." As a result Esteban Ocon has moved up to ninth and Alpine teammate Fernando Alonso 10th, giving the two-time champion his first point since returning to F1.
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