2009 Brazilian Grand Prix: When Kimi Raikkonen escaped blazing fire after a refueling blunder

Kimi Raikkonen narrowly escaped a blazing fire at the 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix

Refueling is banned in Formula 1 since 2010. In-race-refueling used to be one of the most crucial components of the strategy. It allowed the teams to give their drivers heavy or lower fuel loads at different stages of the race. Drivers were able to push on light fuel, giving almost qualifying lap times, letting them gain an advantage over their rivals while being a spectacle for the fans.

However, it was argued that this gave too much power to race strategy over actual racing, teams would focus entirely on undercutting or overcutting the rest of the field via pitstops, depriving the fans of actual on-track action. The key factor in banning refueling was safety, Formula 1 is a dangerous sport, and teams do their level best to gain hundredths of a second over their competitors and this was also the case for filling the car with fuel in the pitstops.

YouTube video — Kimi Raikkonen escaped from a potentially lethal incident during the 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix

Gaining or losing time in the pitstops can make or break a race for a driver, thus the pit crews rush to get the job done as soon as possible. This was proven to be a risky endeavor, as over the years incidents from Jos Verstappen in 1994 at Hockenheim to Felipe Massa in 2008 in Singapore. Thus considering the risk of a more lethal incident in the future, FIA finally banned refueling in 2010 for good.

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Kimi Raikkonen came out unhurt after being caught up in fire

Both, Raikkonen and Kovalainen had been involved in separate first-lap incidents prior to pitting under the safety car

The 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix was the penultimate round of the season, where Jenson Button and the Brawn GP team had the chance to clinch both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships. The first lap of the race was chaotic, with multiple incidents. The first was a collision between McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen and Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel, this led to the McLaren running wide and almost making contact with Giancarlo Fisichella in the Ferrari. After a separate incident between Jarno Trulli and Adrian Sutil, the safety car was called out.

This led to drivers going in for an early stop, including Kovalainen and Kimi Raikkonen, Kimi had damaged his front wing after making contact with Mark Webber. In the pits, Kovalainen was released with the fuel hose still attached to the car, this directed fuel straight behind his car, with Kimi driving straight past. This led to a fire igniting from the Finn’s car, something which could have ended tragically. However, the ‘Iceman’ lived up to his name, as he came out unscathed except for irritation in his eyes.

Post-race, Raikkonen admitted the severity of the situation and said, “At the pitstop, I ended up with some drops of petrol in my eye, from the fuel line stuck on Kovalainen’s car and then I was engulfed in flames and blinded.” But thankfully the flame died down quickly which allowed Kimi to continue the race, eventually finishing a respectable P6. Felipe Massa won the Grand Prix while Jenson Button was crowned the drivers’ champion and his team won the team’s title.

The race serves as a reminder of how risky mid-race refueling can be if not done perfectly. A small error almost burned a driver. In today’s era, F1 is a much safer sport, which could potentially open the door for refueling again but that would go against the sport’s aim of bringing more wheel-to-wheel racing as it could lead to the team’s focusing more on strategy than on-track action.