F1 News: Ferrari Back Kimi Raikkonen Following Accusation Of Sexual Misconduct

Kimi Raikkonen received the full backing from Ferrari after sexual misconduct accusations were made against him by a Canadian waitress.

The unnamed waitress filed a lawsuit against the Ferrari driver alleging that he touched her breast at the bar she was working at after the 2016 Canadian Grand Prix. According to Autosport, she also alleged that an anonymous friend of the driver put his hand down the front of her underwear.

The waitress made the claim in a blog post in 2016 when she refused to name the driver, but earlier this year she followed it up with a statement indicating that she had protected the identity of the driver for too long and was now ready to reveal all.

The Autosport report revealed that a member from Raikkonen’s legal team in Montreal confirmed that they had received a letter from the counsel representing the waitress that said she would go public with the accusations if she was not compensated with what was claimed to be a “huge” amount of money.

Raikkonen, through his legal team, has denied all the accusations and in turn filed a counter-claim accusing the alleged victim of harassment and extortion. The case against the Finnish racer was filed in April.

"Our client denies everything he is accused of and makes it clear that everything this woman does is illegal,” the firm representing Raikkonen said, as quoted by news.com.au.

Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne has given Raikkonen the full backing of the team after revealing that they conducted an investigation of their own and have no reason to doubt their driver is in the wrong.

The 38-year-old is in the final seven months of his contract with the Italian team and recently expressed his desire to continue with the Scuderia for at least one more season. And the Ferrari chief made it clear that the accusations of alleged sexual misconduct will not affect any negotiations planned between the driver and the team.

“We investigated the case internally and know that Kimi is not involved,” Marchionne said. “We stand behind him and are ready to defend him at all costs.”

“Kimi has nothing to do with this story. As to how it will affect his contract, then in any case they are two completely unrelated things," he added, as quoted by Wheels24.

Coincidentally, the reports came out just ahead of Raikkonen’s visit to Montreal this weekend for the Canadian Grand Prix, which gets under way with the first free practice session on Friday.