Kimi Räikkönen doesn’t care about your media presentation, the rain, or your puny Rolex wall. Nothing can contain the Iceman. Not even Circuit of the Americas’ walls.
Räikkönen hit the wall outside a turn at the Austin F1 circuit and started sawing at the wheel. Somehow, the Ferrari Finn manages to wiggle his way out of both the barrier and the gravel and got back going.
Unfortunately, this hit damaged his right front brake caliper to the point where his right front brake temperatures couldn’t stay under control, forcing him to retire.
We expected chaos, and thus far, we’ve got it: lots of attrition and lots of action in the changing conditions. The track is drying out and the mixed-condition masters and 2015 ne’er-do-wells at Red Bull have actually been in the top 5 for much of the race.
Contact the author at stef.schrader@jalopnik.com.