SEPTEMBER 14, 2002

Raikkonen penalized for qualifying incident

Race Stewards of the Italian GP have penalized Kimi Raikkonen for the incident he had with Jordan's Takuma Sato in Qualifying Saturday by taking away his fastest qualifying lap.

The FIA released the statement, "The Stewards of the Meeting received a report from the Race Director, stating that the Driver of car number 4 (Kimi Raikkonen) caused a collision with the Driver of car number 10 (Takuma Sato) during the qualifying session. Both drivers and their representatives were summoned".

"Having heard the explanations of both drivers and viewed video evidence, the Stewards of the Meeting decided to impose a penalty in accordance with Article 119 of 2002 FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations to delete the fastest qualifying time of the Driver of car number 4 (Kimi Raikkonen) for causing a collision contrary to Article 53 of the aforementioned regulations."

The penalty means Raikkonen will lose one spot on the grid, from fifth to sixth. Jaguar's Eddie Irvine was the beneficiary of the penalty, moving from sixth to fifth position for the start of Sunday's race.

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