Kimi Raikkonen has revealed that a minor muscle injury is the reason why Alfa Romeo have drafted in reserve Marcus Ericsson to be present in Belgium this weekend.
It was revealed early on Thursday morning that Ericsson had been recalled by Alfa Romeo to travel to Spa-Francorchamps, rather than compete at this weekend’s IndyCar Portland event.
It is the first time this season that Ericsson has missed an IndyCar event, with Alfa Romeo having previously given him the green light not to be present at clashing Formula 1 rounds.
“I pulled a muscle and that’s about it,” said Raikkonen, who confirmed it was sustained playing sport. “We will see what happens.
“Obviously we need to have some back up plans, it would be stupid not to have our third driver in case I couldn’t be driving in the worst-case scenario.
“There’s a reason why the team has a third driver if something happens. I think it’s a normal story. It’s a difficult situation for him also because he had a race but that’s how it is.”
Raikkonen jokingly added: “Drinking is probably more safe than sport. You don’t get injured, only hungover!”
The Finn is nonetheless outlined that he expected to take part in the full Belgian Grand Prix weekend as planned.
“If you want to put that it’s not one hundred percent, you can put whatever number you like,” he said.
“Obviously it’s impossible to try, we have simulators and that doesn’t tell an awful lot anyway so we will see how it is. In my head it should be fine but you never know.”
