Guest appearance by Raikkonen and Button in NASCAR ends in midfield
General
- GPblog.com
Former Formula One world champions Kimi Raikkonen and Jenson Button competed in the NASCAR race at the Circuit of the Americas last weekend. Although neither driver finished particularly high in the final rankings, it was still a respectable performance for the NASCAR rookies.
It is not unusual for Formula 1 drivers to try their luck in other classes just for fun. Certainly drivers like Button and Raikkonen, who have already achieved the highest achievements in Formula 1, like to take a trip to another competition.
For Raikkonen, it was the second time he had ventured into NASCAR, having also attempted it last August. Then he crashed out and finished in 37th place. Button made his first appearance in the competition.
Raikkonen briefly drives in the lead
Qualifying was far from bad from both champions: they finished in P22 and P24 out of 39 competitors. During the race, they also stayed mostly in the midfield, although Raikkonen managed to briefly touch the podium when his team got the strategy right. Unexpected pit stops by almost the entire field suddenly put the Finn in fourth place. Raikkonen was unable to hold the position, however, and a series of collisions and spins eventually saw the former Ferrari driver drop back to P27. Button managed to escape the chaos in front of him and eventually gained a respectable 18th place finish.