Raikkonen accepts Giovinazzi Portuguese GP F1 incident was his own fault

As Raikkonen looked to overtake Giovinazzi down the start-finish straight, he clipped the back of the Italian’s car, damaging the front of his car.

Raikkonen’s damaged Alfa Romeo ended up in the gravel at Turn 1, resulting in a brief Safety Car period.

Reflecting on the incident with his teammate, Raikkonen owned up to his mistake.

“It was basically my mistake,” Raikkonen said. “I was checking something on the steering wheel, checking a switch. I got it wrong out of the last corner and I had to check it again and then just drove into him. Purely my mistake.”

Giovinazzi had no lasting damage but admitted he was fortunate to get away without a puncture.

“It is what it is,” Giovinazzi added.“It was really a small touch to be honest. I need to speak with Kimi, but it was a bit lucky from my side.”

Alfa Romeo remains eighth in the constructors’ standings after three rounds, with no points to its name.

The team met with the stewards before the race to appeal Raikkonen’s 30-second time penalty from the last race at Imola.

Raikkonen was handed the penalty after failing to follow the correct procedure under the Safety Car in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

The penalty dropped Raikkonen from ninth to outside of the top ten, costing Alfa its first points of the season.

A verdict from the appeal has yet to be reached.

Alfa Romeo will go in search of its first points of the season next weekend at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for the Spanish Grand Prix.