Brundle feels "very sorry" for Raikkonen

Former F1-driver and Sky Sports pundit Martin Brundle has expressed his sympathy for Kimi Raikkonen in his weekly column, saying that he could do or sense nothing when the incident on the rear left tyre happened.

Brundle explains that there is no time for the driver to check if everything's okay before pulling away from the pit, as time is of the essence when pitting.

"Kimi can't be blamed, he can only drop the clutch when his light goes green, he can't have a little check round in front and in the mirrors just in case all is not well," Brundle wrote.

It is also impossible for the driver to feel that something's gone wrong on one of the wheels.

"When the car is rocking on jacks, high-powered wheel guns churning, and wheels coming off and going on, a driver tightly seat belted to a rigid carbon chassis with rigid suspension can only feel a general frenzy of activity whilst doing his own housekeeping in the cockpit.

The Brit, who finished on the podium nine times in his F1-career, thinks that Raikkonen's season might be over already because of this incident and last race's Virtual Safety Car, and says that the Finn will probably be playing second fiddle to Sebastian Vettel for the rest of the season.Sour

"I feel very sorry for Kimi.

"Due to an unlucky safety car in Melbourne and a failed pit stop in Bahrain he's probably already consigned to be Vettel's F1 equivalent of a Tour de France 'domestique' for the rest of the season.

"Maybe the luck will play back into his hands shortly."