Confirmed: Kimi Raikkonen pulls leg muscle ahead of Belgium Grand Prix weekend

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13:45, 29 Aug 2019

byMatt

Kimi Raikkonen has pulled a leg muscle ahead of the Belgium Grand Prix but will drive the Alfa Romeo during practice on Friday. Marcus Ericsson is at Spa-Francorchamps ready to replace Raikkonen should he be unable to continue after practice.

According to the BBC's Andrew Benson, Raikkonen believes he'll be "fine" but it's "better to have a back-up" just in case. The Ice Man has scored all but one of Alfa Romeo's 32 points during the 2019 F1 season.

With the team themselves tweeting this morning that Ericsson had arrived, initial rumours suggested that Antonio Giovinazzi was going to be replaced, but those rumours have no died out.

Andrew Benson

@andrewbensonf1

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The Ericsson mystery resolved - Raikkonen has pulled a muscle in his left leg and was not completely sure he could race. “Better to have a back-up,” he says. “But it should be fine.” Says he’ll find out tomorrow in practice but was very clear he didn’t think it was “a big story”

Pos.	Driver	Team	Points
1	George Russell George Russell	MercedesMER	51
2	Kimi Antonelli Kimi Antonelli	MercedesMER	47
3	Charles Leclerc Charles Leclerc	FerrariFER	34
4	Lewis Hamilton Lewis Hamilton	FerrariFER	33
5	Oliver Bearman Oliver Bearman	HaasHAA	17
6	Lando Norris Lando Norris	McLarenMCL	15
7	Pierre Gasly Pierre Gasly	AlpineALP	9
8	Max Verstappen Max Verstappen	Red Bull RacingRBR	8
9	Liam Lawson Liam Lawson	Racing BullsRCB	8
10	Arvid Lindblad Arvid Lindblad	Racing BullsRCB	4
11	Isack Hadjar Isack Hadjar	Red Bull RacingRBR	4
12	Oscar Piastri Oscar Piastri	McLarenMCL	3
13	Carlos Sainz Carlos Sainz	WilliamsWIL	2
14	Gabriel Bortoleto Gabriel Bortoleto	AudiAUD	2
15	Franco Colapinto Franco Colapinto	AlpineALP	1
16	Esteban Ocon Esteban Ocon	HaasHAA	0
17	Nico Hulkenberg Nico Hulkenberg	AudiAUD	0
18	Alexander Albon Alexander Albon	WilliamsWIL	0
19	Valtteri Bottas Valtteri Bottas	CadillacCAD	0
20	Sergio Perez Sergio Perez	CadillacCAD	0
21	Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso	Aston MartinAST	0
22	Lance Stroll Lance Stroll	Aston MartinAST	0

Confirmed: Kimi Raikkonen pulls leg muscle ahead of Belgium Grand Prix weekend

byMatt

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