Vettel points finger at ‘crazy’ Kvyat for Raikkonen clash

2016 Chinese Grand Prix

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Sebastian Vettel described Daniil Kvyat’s move into turn one that resulted in contact between the two Ferrari drivers as “like a torpedo” and “a bit crazy”.

The Red Bull driver dived to the inside of Vettel in the long right-hander, but did not appear to touch the Ferrari driver before Vettel drifted into Kimi Raikkonen, who was on the outside line.

After the race, Vettel confronted Kvyat in the podium green room about the incident. There was no investigation by the stewards for the incident.

The following is a full transcript of the pre-podium discussion.

VETTEL: I’m asking what happened at the start? If I don’t go to the left, you crash into us all all three of us go out.

KVYAT: Well, I was…

VETTEL: No, no ‘well’. You came like a torpedo.

KVYAT: Well that’s racing! [laughs]

VETTEL: Yeah, racing. But if I keep going the same line, we crash.

KVYAT: So don’t keep going! [laughs]

VETTEL: Yeah, but there was a car on the left, also.

KVYAT: Yeah, but it’s not like I can see all the three cars, man. Come on. I have only two eyes. Two cars.

VETTEL: Well you need to choose. We crash if you do that.

KVYAT: But we didn’t, so…

VETTEL: YOU didn’t… Yeah, that was racing, but you need to expect that when you attack a bit crazy, you can damage the car. You were lucky this time. The damage was to Kimi.

KVYAT: I’m on the podium, so it’s okay. You’re on the podium. It’s fine.

2016 Chinese Grand Prix

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    Will Wood
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    133 comments on “Vettel points finger at ‘crazy’ Kvyat for Raikkonen clash”

    1. Looked like a gap to me…

      1. Looked like a comfortable gap to me too. Vettel should have just backed out a bit earlier not to hit Kimi (who made a mistake there to make it a tad tighter for Seb.) @lockup

        1. @lockup @bascb Me three. Was disappointed Vettel threw a wobbler over this but he was obviously very embarrassed about turfing Raikkonen off the track while Marchionne was watching in the pits. But Kvyat did nothing wrong – he saw a gap and went for it.

          The total lack of interest in the incident shown by the stewards reaffirms my view on this (though I wish they’d been of the same opinion regarding Bottas two weeks ago).

          1. Yes I was thinking Marchionne too @keithcollantine. Ferrari seem to have this thing that their leader menaces them!

            Tho I don’t see the Bottas one as the same. Kvyat was clean through whereas Bottas was always on an intersecting course with Hamilton. I thought an experienced driver would know Hamilton was going for the cutback and would be on the apex at an angle that gave him no view in the mirror. Plus Valterri was not quite in control.

          2. Big Kimi and Seb fan here, but i think Seb was to vocal about it, although understandable in the heat of the moment; if there’s fault to be had it’s Kimi’s, he went wide so Seb tried to go on the inside and then Kimi came back towards the apex; it would have been enough space for the two of them, but with Kvyat on the inside …
            good for Kvyat that he went for the gap.
            I agree with Keith tough, had Seb done like Lewis (i.e. leave a gap and then turn in) it would have happen like in Bahrain; so i too think Bottas should not have been penalized two weeks ago.
            I think 2nd was the best Ferrari could achieve in this race so 2nd and 5th, not much lost (i think Ricciardo without the puncture and the out of synch stop with the safety car was also in the fight for the podium); too bad for Kimi though but he looks lively lately so that’s good.

            1. Exactly! I was so upset with Kimi! Almost like it was personal. I was really cheering for him this time, he did have a chance to win. And then he screws everything in the first turn. Kvyat and Vettel took risks, but that’s what racing is about, they did nothing wrong. And Kimi insisted in putting his car where Vettel’s was. If I was a steward I would give a penalty to Kimi for causing a collision, and another, bigger penalty for screwing his own race in such a stupid way.

      2. It’s been a while since he’s pointed that finger. So perhaps he’s venting.

        I think also perhaps the fact the boss was watching closely does not help. Kimi did cut back in and Vettel had nowhere to go. It is what it is.

        Perhaps it fired him up for the race.. by the looks of it, the next one too.

      3. Actually, I like the Kyvat shrugged his shoulders and held his ground, did not apologise for it. He did not see that he had done anything wrong and said he will do the same again. Great attitude.

        As a side point, how on earth at they getting THAT much performance from THAT engine?!?! Geeeee

        1. TAG Heuer “It’s all about timing”

          1. skinny wing; but even so, that P2 qualy lap was amazing.

        2. I would not call ‘great attitude’ someone who’s not even willing to revisit what has happened. I do not think Kvyat did something wrong as per the rule book. I think Vettel was alluding more to that fact that in the first couple of corners of the race the situation is different than for the remaining of the race. Kvyat calls it racing while forgetting that others were racing there as well. What exactly did he think the other drivers would do? Keep going left because there’s Kvyat on the right? One day Kvyat will try that with another hot-headed like him and they’ll both crash. And then people will blame the other person for not watching and keeping the gap open; without regard that the driver behind has to realize how wide and for how long that gap will be there.
          Just my opinion, great move in one-on-one passing any other lap, just not at the start of the race.

      4. sunny stivala
        17th April 2016, 11:05

        even with Bottas in Bahrain it looked like a gap to me, but in Bahrain the stewards were different

      5. A German driver for Ferrari causing a crash and blaming someone else? Unthinkable!

        1. Agreed. Kvyat was racing. Like a torpedo. Into the gap left to him. How SV would have expected DK to devine what would happen to Kimi is not reasonable. Both on the podium ultimately. This was not blind recklessness on DK’s part.

      6. Looking at reply I am actually certain that it was Kvyat that clipped off the frontwing of Kimi!
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jii16GF0btE&ebc=ANyPxKqlvwoGmzssCQeA3KWNT3LWTK4R3K74SXXO4FYbNpufw8atG_gkDKtdaHlXdytq-tAjoIUD

        1. Kvyat’s move was great. Kimi went wide either because he went in too fast, locked his brakes or lost downforce on his front wing. Probably little bit of everything. Regardless the fault there lies with kimi for letting kvyat on the inside. Similarly vettel can only take fault for giving such open door for kvyat to go through. In the crash that follows vettel is the one who can take all the blame. Almost hitting two cars from the behind and spinning out your team mate in turn 1 was not good move.

          In turn 1 you need right level of aggression and right level of cautiousness. If you go in too hard you may go wide (rai) or you may hit other driver (vet). If you get it just right you can gain lots of places (kvyat and ricciardo). If you leave door open there are lots of people around you who will try to go through the door. Don’t leave the door open if you know there are people close to you.

          Same thing happened with hamilton in the last race when he left the door wide open – and in his case intentionally. From hamilton’s part that was a clear error and even if bottas was penalized for it the gap was there wide open.

          All of these should have been racing incidents. But sadly when ever two cars collide fia still feels such occasion always requires a penalty. Only thing that saved vettel from penalty was that the car he punted out was another ferrari. Had it been any other car he would have been given drive through or stop and go.

        2. It was Kimi spearing into the side of Kvyat.

    2. That was just a great move from Kvyat, he must stop whining. Also his words were unjustified just before the podium. Vettel left an enormous space on his right, Kvyat took it.

      1. @spoutnik A space that was always going to close, just the nature of the corner. He was not driving slow enough to keep the inside line. Kvyat wasn’t so much in the wrong for trying but it was a desperate attempt nonetheless. I would not have minded had this been during the race but knowing there are so many cars around him at the time it was stupid to try. If there was a lesser driver on Kvyat his outside he would’ve collected both himself and Kvyat by turning in.

        1. @xtwl I just took the replay to see it again. I disagree, it seem Raikonnen is avoiding Rosberg diving on the inside. Raikonnen is now taking a bad line in the corner, and Vettel leaves a huge gap. Kvyat took the inside line, every driver would have done the same, nothing wrong with that.

          At the time Vettel touches Raikonnen, Kvyat has left than half a car on its right. It’s mainly Raikonnen who did not see Kvyat and turned too much on the inside, squeezing Vettel.

          1. “It’s mainly Raikonnen who did not see Kvyat and turned too much on the inside, squeezing Vettel.”

            I think this is the case, but not wanting to sour relations at Ferrari; Vettel does not want to argue this.

            Much easier just to make a big showing blaming Kvyat, keeps Raikonnen happy, keeps Ferrari happy…

            1. Kimi made a mistake (turning in on Seb), Seb got squezzed (nothing to do), the kid gets the blame!

        2. I feel also a disappearing line, certainly given the speed Kvyat entered the corner at… There are certain other drivers who having made that move would have been attacked for dangerous racing moves…

          In this instance I felt Kvyat was lucky and got away without creating what could have been a major incident (and I suspect the only reason it wasn’t investigated)…

          1. Investigated? Seriously that is nonsense.

            1. @spoutnik It really isn’t. He entered the corner way to fast to keep the inside line and was always going to hit Vettel or Kimi near the second part of the corner. That is just how T1 works here. Had he been going in slower he would have been able to keep the inside line and Vettel could’ve been driving next to him. It was a bold but above all thoughtless move. It worked out this time but that is more thanks to Vettel reacting then Kvyat placing his car.

          2. @xtwl Surely bold, maybe thoughtless. But I don’t know a single driver, Seb included, who wouldn’t try it.

            1. Sergey Martyn
              17th April 2016, 17:48

              Exactly! I believe Seb would do exaxtly the sam if he was in RB today.
              Consiudering VET radio – champions dont complasin – they just race.

            2. Other drivers would try it but not like that, you go quick on the inside, then “park” on the apex, and keep the tight line. See Vettel (in a RedBull) vs Alonso at Silverstone in 2014.
              Kvyat went in there a bit too fast and he could not keep the tight racing line; so he hit Kimi’s front wing although Kimi was a bit turned from being hit by Seb in the rear.

          3. I do agree.

            Hadn’t Vettel hit Kimi, Kvyat would have. While Kvyat dived into the opening that was there, he we carrying too much speed and was not able not keep the inside line. He would have crashed into either of the Ferraris without Vettel hitting Kimi first. It was overly aggressive move in the fist corner and Kvyat was lucky (at the expense of others) to get away with it.

            1. Sviatoslav (@)
              17th April 2016, 10:11

              No, Kvyat was in front of Vettel when Kimi came back to the racing line. Just re-watch the incident and pay attention to where Kvyat was.

            2. @sviat It only looks that way because of how the corner goes…

            3. @blackbox @xtwl kvyat got alongside and acquired the racing line. He was still able to make the corner. Vettel left the door open and kvyat took advantage. Vettel was just a little late in closing the door, took avoiding action, understeered a little, and by that time it was too late, Kimi was there.

              I respect Vettel a lot, but I can’t blame kyvat for going for the gap. This corner has multiple lines, the main reason the drivers keep similar line when going in by themselves is to set position for the next series of corners but when racing side by side you can take a different line, Kvyat applied a little extra throttle to give himself track position, and while this would usually compromise his exit, it prevents the other car from turning in as early so their exit is compromised more. Vettle lost control, Kvyat seized it.

            4. @3dom I don’t mind Kvyat going for the gap, A for effort, it was however in my point of view a reckless move that could have finished his race. Had Vettel not reacted, just the fact they were going three wide would mean there were always going to be two of them crashing. Kvyat was not going slow enough to hold the very tight inside line and always relied on Vettel (and Kimi) moving out of the way rather than actually overtaking them.

          4. Exactly, Perez comes to mind… Like was it Button he torpedoed in Monaco down out from the tunnel and a couple of more comes to mind.
            Cant blame Kvyat going for the gap that was there and trying. But it was totally braindead as he was not able to hold the line going around the corner with all that speed he took on going in there and therefore would always cause collision with or among the rows of cars further to the left that comes down traditional racing line through that curve. Grosjean also had some teething problems of same kind, when those young guns wrongly think you win the race through the first lap of a race.
            By the way, replay appear to indicate it was Kvyat who drove the frontwing off Kimis car.
            So much for that gap Kvyat went into. as a mindless torpedo… ;o)

          5. A gap, is a gap, is a gap. If you don’t go for it, hang up the helmet. Period.

        3. every space is going to close. The point is to put your car there and make sure the other driver can’t steer in, while you can still make the corner. Which is just what Kvyat did.

          1. Totally agreed @thetick you just described a fundamental part of a great overtake, maybe some people have gotten too used to DRS highway passes that they can no longer appreciate it

        4. @xtwl be objective, just for once. We all know you are a Vettel supporter, but this time he is un-defendable, come on. His whinging is actually quite pathetic

          1. @liongalahad This has hardly anything to do with Vettel? I have not much to say about his talking about it either, but I saw the incident, I saw the replays and I firmly believe it was a thoughtless move by Kvyat that could have ended his race right there.

        5. PorscheF1, you keep insisting on the “desperate attempt” and the hypotesis that Kvyat would have not made it to close the corner without ending wide and hitting the Ferraris. Sorry, but you sound funny. Races do not work this way. It’s not like you can provoke an accident and then blame another pilot because he MIGHT have crashed into you had you not crashed first. Vettel is the only one who created this situation, with some help from Raikkonen. Is Kvyat’s trajectory legit? Yes it is. By the way he did go a bit wide in the end but Raikkonen was well behind him at that point (in fact Raikkonen crashed at half length of Kvyat’s car), so it is the Finn who should have lifted his foot. Never mind Vettel who’s already completely behind Kvyat.

      2. You’re right. Vettel needs to grow up. There was a gap that was closing, so let your foot off the pedal and quit whining, Vettel. You’re making yourself look childish. No wonder you’re the only driver that gets booed on the podium.

        1. He got quite an ovation on the podium, actually there are no boos to any driver on the podium since Mr.Politcs passed from fighting from championship to be content with finishing 12th.

    3. I think he’s embarrassed about hitting Kimi, and is deflecting blame. Mind you I don’t think there’s any blame warranted to Seb either, it’s racing.

      1. Exactly, it’s just racing, no one is to blame for what happened there.

        People are gonna complain about ‘whining Vettel’ but he had a pretty good race after his front wing change.

        1. @paeschli If anything Kvyat is right in saying it got him a podium (I don’t approve the action though). That together with Ricciardo getting a puncture because otherwise he would have finished behind both Ferrari cars and his teammate. Compared to Ricciardo he was very slow today.

          1. To be honest until watching the replay I wasn’t sure what happened in terms Kvyat’s approach to the corner. Vettel made it sounds as if Kvyat was quite aggressive and then I watched the replay and I must say Vettel is probably feeling guilty for spoiling his team mate’s race and is trying to vent his anger/disappointment on Kvyat without foundation. Kvyat did nothing wrong there, sorry.

        2. Sviatoslav (@)
          17th April 2016, 10:12

          Oh, sorry, I see now: I have to appreciate this attitude from Vettel and maybe even praise him for his words.

          1. @sviat I’d wait for Vettel’s comments AFTER watching a replay of the start before judging him

      2. Just a bit embarrassed in front of the boss, I’m sure Vettel would do the same as Kvyat at the start.

        1. @stretch I doubt that as he can think further ahead instead of just throwing his car into a corner expecting the others to move away for him.

          1. I love it how many people were praising Verstappen when he was dive-bombing people on the inside here last year, but now some of those same people cannot accept the fact that there was a space and Kvyat went for it.

            1. Kvyat’s move was similar to Vertsappen’s move here last year on Perez. It was agressive, but in the end there was nothing wrong with the move.

            2. @njoydesign I surely wasn’t one of them. I found Verstappen his move even worse as it relied for 100% on the Saubers to move out of his way. This time Kvyat was lucky it paid off but it surely could’ve ruined his race and that is why I name it a thoughtless move.

          2. Exaggerate much? No action was taken by the stewards.

      3. @jmc200

        Agree. He cannot blame Kvyat for seeing an opening at that corner, after all, it was Vettel’s fault to leave that gap there anyways. Vettel had his eye on Kimi and left that gap for Kvyat. Kvyat took the opportunity like any other driver on the grid would have. It was unfortunate that Kimi got blocked by Rosberg and had to get back to a position to get a line through the next turn, and that’s where they tangled.

        It was just a racing incident, but Vettel trying to justify it to Ferrari and the Media by blaming Kvyat in the dressing room was just childish of him. Kvyat stood his ground and gave it back to him pretty well I thought

        1. Yeah,

          Vettel was childish, my he learned fro Alonso in Suzuka 2012.

      4. I think so too. First corners as we saw in Bahrain are always tricky to get right and sometimes drivers blatantly make the wrong judgement as Bottas did in Bahrain but in this situation, there were a lot more cars involved than the last incident. And good enough the stewards saw it as something not worth taking any action on. If anything, the incident damaged Kimi’s race and more importantly Hamilton’s who hit the debris left by the crash and thus damaged his front wing. Without that he would have been further up the column when the safety car came out.
        I think Vettel was right in pointing it out at first but his tone and the way he spoke to the guy even saying something like ”You are laughing now but….” just doesn’t sit right. Going on a long speech about the same issue yet again on the podium was also not necessary.
        Still Seb is one my favourites.

        1. No, Hamilton was crashed into by one of the Saubers trying to avoid Kimi =)

          Vettel drove an amazing race afterwards, but I totally agree with you that his behaviour after the finish was sub-par. He should let it go. He left the door wide open and Dani went for it.

          1. Ok. It still means that Hamilton’s race was grossly affected by the Kimi/Vettel/Kvyat incident.
            Without that as I said, he would have been higher up, having recovered a few places, when SC came out instead of being dead last as a result of having to change front wing.

      5. agoodall (@)
        18th April 2016, 5:20

        Exactly. The number one rule of F1: don’t take out your team mate. The number two rule: don’t take out your team mate!! This might be a sore point for Vettel (*cough*Turkey 2010*cough*), explaining why he was so adamant about arguing the point. It seems to have plagued him all race, in spite of him coming in second. He knows hitting Kimi cost the team. I don’t think anyone is blaming him, really, so he should just let the matter drop.

    4. Alex McFarlane
      17th April 2016, 9:20

      Having seen the incident several times on Sky, I think Raikkonen was at fault, he made a mistake and locked his tyres going into turn 1 and he had plenty of room on the outside to give space for Vettel to pass, he seemed to turn into Vettel’s path.

      That said, nothing more than a first corner racing incident for me, it’s always going to be fast and hectic at the start.

      1. Was also thinking that. In the end, there’s a reason they usually leave 1st corner be.

      2. I think you are right. Kimi is the one to blame! And actually I also think Kimi is the reason Hamilton lost his nose. Kimi just entered the track where there was a Saucer and the Saucer had to avoid running into Hamilton.

        1. It wasn’t flying sadly

          1. Lol Strontium. Will those saucers ever fly again I wonder…

        2. Lewisham Milton
          17th April 2016, 16:04

          You didn’t read this before posting it, so why should I bother reading it?

      3. *Sauber…. Auto correct

      4. Ioannis Lalakidis
        17th April 2016, 9:38

        we laugh here….maybe its Kimi’s fault because he was there from the first place…..he had the outside line mate and he was in FRONT of Seb…..

        1. It’s not Kimi’s fault, because it would be unrealistic for him to know that Kyvat was suddenly alongside Vettel, as both were in his blind spot and also Vettel was blocking his view of Kyvat. Whilst not worthy of any penalty, ultimately it was Vettel’s fault for (a) leaving a gap for Kyvat to cleanly grab and hold the inside until ahead, and (b) not immediately ceding position to both when realising he was going to be squeezed from both sides. Vettel was the only one of the 3 to be able to see both cars, but he panicked and locked up. No penalty, as he was already on the brakes, so tricky for him to slow down any further without that locking up.

          Never forget to consider the limited potential view from the driver’s cockpit when attributing blame in incidents.

    5. He deserves Driver of the weekend for that haha. Kyvat’s face was hilarious when they were talking.

      1. @krichelle

        Yeah it was pretty funny reactions from Kvyat. He was happy to be on the podium, and was smiling as well when he was accused of driving over aggressively as well. I like how he replied saying – “We are racing”.. hahahah. Almost giving it to Vettel, saying do you expect me to not try and overtake you because you were battling cars ahead?!?

        Good job by Kvyat this weekend, and a display of much better sportsmanship from him as well.

    6. It was racing. Arguably Kvyat was a bit too aggressive, but that’s usually what happens at the start. It was just an unfortunate situation.

    7. Seb needs to cool down. I think he’s blaming Kvyat for an imagined lost win and that’s why he’s so furious. In reality though, it was a wild start and Kvyat drove into a gap that was there. It would have been a different story if he would have hit Vettel, but he didn’t, and I don’t even think he would have if Vettel hadn’t reacted so sharply to his move. I’m usually more of a fan of Vettel’s than Kvyat’s, but in this case as Kvyat said himself, that’s racing, his nose was clean, and he ended on the podium.

    8. Go for a gap but don’t hit a red car. Got it.

    9. I hope that Vettel has rewatched the incident on TV and has realised that the incident was not Kvyat’s fault and that Vettel is crying for no reason.

      1. Alex McFarlane
        17th April 2016, 9:25

        No doubt Vettel would have made the exact same move if the positions were reversed.

        1. My thoughts exactly. If seb has been in the same position as DK he would have dived for the space and regarded it as his right to take because he is Sebastian vettel.

          This is the tantrum side of Sebastian coming out (and I’m a big fan of his.)

          Great race.

          1. I’m not so sure – KVY’s speed was faster than any of the surrounding cars. You can see he loses speed when he hits Seb, which is probably what managed to get him around the corner on the line he was on.

            It’s not something that’s worthy of a penalty and is surely a racing incident, but on the first lap he should be driving somewhat defensively – especially when two cars in front of him have taken wider lines, he’s got to expect them to close the gap. He was very lucky that he wasn’t taken out of the race along with a few cars immediately behind him – it might have paid off in the end, but it was luck, not a well thought-out move.

            Sensible racing guys. He would have lost maybe 1-2 places at most had he moderated his speed, and not risked crashing out of the race.

    10. Trenthamfolk (@)
      17th April 2016, 9:25

      Keep digging Vettel, keep digging… everyone in the paddock is talking about you…

      1. Everyone? How do you know this? Have you jetted out to China with a clipboard and pen to check?

    11. That was completely unnecessary from Vettel and I appreciate Kvyat’s reaction. At first he seemed intimidated; he’s not often on the podium and that was very aggressive, but that final pat on Vettel’s back before getting out of view was just genius.

      1. Yeah I’m glad Kvyat didn’t apologise, kudos for standing up against a 4 times world champion.

        1. a whiny four times champion

          1. A very worthy and low profile 4 times world champion. Whine less than half of guys with half of the titles.

    12. I think it was a racing incident. For Kvyat definitely it looked like a gap. It was risky but I don’t blame him for going for it. Vettel was then sandwiched, he needed to change his line, and that meant he hit Kimi… However I can also understand that emotions run high for Vettel, while Kvyat just says so what.. And it looked like on the podium it already calmed down a bit.

      Curios how others are seeing it.

    13. Aditya (@adityafakhri)
      17th April 2016, 9:29

      Both Ferrari weren’t on ideal line. Kimi should be in Seb’s line and Seb should be in Kvyat’s line.

      Both driver feel they can go ahead of Rosberg, given tyre circumstamces and all. And then enter Kvyat.

      It’s amusing that somehow Lewis race was also ruined by that. Luckless weekend for him…

    14. I think Kvyat was too agressive going into the first corner, but eh, probably just me.

      Thing is I never liked Kvyat as a driver, someone like Verstappen, who’s also agressive, and honestly sometimes a bit childish, would be much better in Kvyat’s seat.

      Just saying :)

    15. MG421982 (@)
      17th April 2016, 9:43

      VET is nuts, obviously! HAM’s move on BOT was “crazier”! It seems that the crash affected him, he just kept on apologizing for the crash every time he opened his mouth, but blaming KVY is just ridiculous. The only ones to blame for the crash is him and RAI… for kinda slamming the door in VET’s face in the last moment. Also, Ferrari as a team is to blame because they did not try to qualify better. As we’ve seen, things didn’t go as planned at all for them in the race, so they not only missed the oportunity to qualify better, but missed the chance to win or have both cars on the podium too. RAI had the pace to be 2nd or 3rd, but that’s hardly possible when you’re 20th at the end of lap1! Overall, this year, Ferrari is closer to Mercedes, yet their results are worse after the first 3 races compared to last year. They even managed 1 win at this very moment of the year in 2015. So, Ferrari has to stop gambling so much everything on the Race and better start give everything in Quali too. It’s obvious that the only way to win is to be in front, in clear air. Qualifying better would help a lot too.

    16. Still it was much cleaner move than what did Bottas in Bahrain.

    17. Watching the replay from multiple angles, I can come only to one conclusion – Raikkonen keeps being a liability and both tangle with Seb, and Lewis’ tangle with Nasr are Raikkonen’s fault.

      First he simply cut over Vettel’s path, causing all the drama, and then returned on the track in an absolutely unsafe manner, forcing people who were already on the track to brake suddenly and swerve, causing Nasr-Hamilton contact.

      In the last few years, Raikkonen has shown constant disregard for driving etiquette, always acting as if he knows better then the people who came up with the safety rules and acting as if the safety rules are for other people, not him.

      1. Hehe, can be seen that way too. Kimi evil mastermind forced Vettel in to a crash, and destroyed Lewid via Sauber… Providing epic carnage.

        Later Bernie will buy him icecream for being a good show improvement.

      2. Absurd comment Biggsy. If you take your logic you could actually blame Rosberg for the whole incident as he was the one who cut across Raikkonen, forcing him to lock his brakes. It’s clearly not Rosberg’s fault, just as it isn’t Raikkonen’s. It’s a racing incident at best, with the majority of blame on Vettel who has the benefit of seeing two cars in front of him and can (or should) therefore brake more to avoid them. But this nonsense about Raikkonen constantly disregarding driving etiquette – where? Only incident I can think of is the Bottas move in Russia last year where he overcooked it. Most of the time he’s been superb in wheel-to-wheel combat, look at Bahrain.

      3. I wouldn’t blame Kimi for Vettel / Kvyat, but I would happily lay the blame on Kimi for Nasr / Hamilton.
        I’m surprised that nothing was said about him rejoining the track in an unsafe manor. Again…

    18. I think you guys need to cool down.
      Seb was disappointed and blamed Daniel. Daniel explained himself. By the time of the podium interviews, he already seemed more understanding. After seeing the images, he will see that it was a racing incident and he will state that, too.
      He is a straight shooter and he is human. Give him a break.

      1. *Daniil

        I agree, I had to watch the replay multiple times before deciding it was a racing incident. It’s unrealistic to expect a completely objective analysis of the situation from Vettel moments after a race.

    19. Sviatoslav (@)
      17th April 2016, 10:07

      Well, this again clearly shows that Vettel cannot accept the fact that he misjudges the situation. Once again he shows that he is a ****. Turkey-2010, Silverstone-2010, Malaysia-2013.
      This was a racing incident. Kvyat was in front of Vettel when Kimi decided to come back to the racing line. Kimi was clearly in front of Vettel. So, Vettel had three options:
      1) move to the right, because Kvyat is in front, so there is an entire racing line on the right;
      2) brake immediately to avoid the accident with Kimi;
      3) crash into his team mate.
      The crash is more or less OK – presumably, Vettel just didn’t have the time to react, so this happens…but, all his comments during the race, after the race in that small chamber for drivers to get rest and on the podium… I didn’t have any respect for Vettel before, but now it’s even worse.

    20. Sorry, Seb, your fault. Instead of accepting it like a man when you got into your team-mate, you try to blame Kvyat. Kvyat didn’t divebomb you, he went for a gap that was clearly there. He’s a risky driver too, who always takes risks at overtaking, sometimes to the detriment of himself and other drivers. You should’ve paid more attention but instead you’ve bumped into your team-mate and ruined his race. Maybe the fact that your team-mate was faster than you all weekend got into your head, the way you were driving at the start. Great drivers hate to lose, it’s a fact. But it isn’t an excuse

      1. zzzz … Is it not okay for a driver to discuss his opinions ? The media is just hyping it up and people are going nuts about it. Moving on to Russia!

        1. It’s ok to express opinion. My opinion is that it would be better for Seb if he stopped blaming Kvyat, and instead apologized for his mistake at the start, truthfully and not the “it’s his fault!” kind of apology.Mistakes happen to the very best and it is better to be a man about it and accept it. Or at the very least SV could have said that it’s the start and chaotic situation and it was just an unfortunate racing incident(if he doesn’t think he is to blame). The way he reacted, when the vast majority agree that Kvyat wasn’t at fault, he just sounds like a crybaby

          Because, Kimi, Arrivabene, Marchionne, none of those are stupid. They’ll see the replays too. Not a comfortable situation for Seb

          1. He apologised. He said tha there was nothing else to do. But although it was not his fault
            I ‘ve seen the videos again and again fron different corners. Sebastian just did the best he could

            1. As I said, I could maybe agree with that assessment(that it’s just a racing incident), but him blaming Kvyat is just stupid and childish and something everyone at Ferrari will see thru.

              It goes like this:
              SV: Uh oh I just crashed into Kimi and ruined both of our races, and the BIG BOSS is here! How am I going to wriggle my way out of this mess? Oh I know! Blame Kvyat! It’s him, it’s him that pesky Russian! He went in like a kamikaze, didn’t you see?!

              SM: Oh just leave it kid. I’ve seen dishonest employees many times before and I’m disappointed to find out you’re one of them…

    21. Well, I think Seb acting like this is more due to Sergio Marchionne being present today than Kvyat messing up(which he didn’t).

    22. Kvyat had every right to go for that and kept his nose clean..dont understand what Seb’s cribbing about so much.. Surprised kimi was not investigated for the manner he rejoined the track after going off in the first corner.. He certainly caused the saulber to turn into Hamilton

    23. It’s amazing how some people can still divert the blame to Raikkonen who is the innocent victim here…

      1. It’s not as amazing as a professional driver blaming Kvyat. Grow up Vettel.

        1. “Oh, i lost my title in 2012 because of Grosjean”
          “Petrov didn´t let me pass….oooh!

      2. Maybe initially but Kimi re-entering the track was definitely unsafe and should have been penalised

    24. Kvyat’s arguments are terrible, as is his laughing demeanour, but it doesn’t mean he’s the sole cause or even the main instigator of the collision. There aren’t a whole lot of drivers who wouldn’t have gone for a gap the size Vettel left on the inside. That Räikkönen was also doing his own thing didn’t help matters. It was just a mess that you might expect would happen in such a tight and crowded corner.

    25. This is silly teamwork from Ferrari..both car should protect each other not by pushing one another.
      Kimi was cut by Rosberg and he had to brake more to avoid contact, locked his wheel and going wide, this was the moment that Vettel should hold inside line rather than going wheel-to-wheel with Kimi and letting Kvyat slipping trough.
      Maybe Vettel gonna thanks Kvyat becos he passed Kimi again in the drivers points.

    26. Old dislikable Vettel is back.

    27. I don’t see he did anything wrong with that, there was a gap and he went for it, yes it ruined the race for Ferrari but they didn’t tough.

    28. I don’t think that Kyvat did anything wrong, but his reaction to Vettel strikes me as a bit childish – giggling and joking.

      Of course, if this were the 1980s, we’d have had fisticuffs.

      1. Aww…Come on. The guy was happy for being on the podium after the disaster start to his 2016 campaign. He was in a good mood before finger boy pointed in his direction and started with his class act whining. I think Kvyat handled it perfectly well, considering he wasn’t to blame to begin with.

    29. Great race. I think Seb is deflecting here but there really shouldn’t be any need. This is just first corner racing – nobody wants to back out and often there isn’t space to anyway.

      Sounds more like a 4 time WDC trying to bully a younger driver!

    30. Well it was terrible but fun. Toropedo is correct description.. That right there was lead battle ending move. He was either gonna hit Kimi or Vettel.. 9/10 times accident would happen.. But 1/10 accident didnt happen to him. So good result. But any different and he would seem stupid like Bottas in last race. Looking like a fool fighting for points.

      So he acted like a young bull, just as brave, just as smart. Lucky.

      Vettel is right to point out, mostly to cover his fault. Safe thing would be to break, but he only had a split second to react to that Russian torpedo.. Lets call it forced error by Vettel.

      That being said Kvyat had no choice… Either pass then and there or kiss podium goodbye. He did what gave him best result with 0 margin for error. Pretty much his driver style. Always 0 margin for error, so he needs luck to get a good result, or atleast absence of unluck.

      1. Torpedos hit things, Kvyat didn’t. He slowed enough to make the corner – for torpedo think Rosberg in last years Sochi GP

        1. Dind´t hit because things got out of his way, if not…

    31. It is a racing incident cant blame anyone as kyat done the right thing as the gap was there but at the end there was not much damage for 3 of them may be raikkonen could have finished one more position ahead.but the victim was lewis Hamilton.Hamilton had a good start but that incident forced felipe nasr to avoid raikkonen and hit Hamilton s mercedes.it cost him more damage in championship fight as bad luck already hampered him this weekend and things got even worser for him today to drive with a handicapped car througout the race.

    32. It was a racing incident. Neither Vettel or Kvyat was wholly at fault.

    33. Fair enough to go for the gap, but if the move into to gap is with a speed surplus, requiring those on the outside to move and make more room than reasonable, then You get a collision, if the driver in front doesn’t move. I’m sure Vettel will try to resist the natural evasive action next time.

    34. My favourite bit of this conversation is when the camera catches Rosberg standing behind them laughing…

    35. The race stewards actually did everyone a favor by not getting involved in this series of incidents. Series of incidents because there was not just one single cause, more like a chain reaction. Rosberg cut across, Kimi locked up, he was still ahead of Vettel, Vettel left room on the inside, Kvyat took advantage while holding the inside line very well and got ahead of Vettel, Vettel was sandwiched as Kimi came back to the racing line, but three cars wide were never going to fit there. So who’s fault was it? I think the stewards decided correctly (for once) with a non-decision. It was a racing incident.

      1. Agreed. No investigation let alone penalty. Disagree that ‘for once’ the stewards decided correctly. I think they deserve more credit than that.

        1. @robbie – OK, that might be a bit harsh. Especially since the stewards are like a moving target and not the same for every race. And a thankless job as well. My thought is that sometimes stewards get a bit too proactive and overthink things a bit.

    36. Michael Brown
      17th April 2016, 18:03

      Vettel’s not in the right here.

      I think it’s likely that Kyvat and Raikkonen didn’t know the other was there, and so when Vettel had to avoid Raikkonen he ended up closing the gap that Kyvat was already in.

      If anything, Vettel should have backed out rather than try to cut to the inside as a means to avoid Raikkonen.

      1. He tried to back up but this was not possible. Behind him there was other cars as well. They were not alone in the track. He was sandwiched an there was noting possible to do. The gap Kvyat got in was closing when the corner came and there was not enough space for both of them. As a racing driver Kvyat should know and he must have been the one to back out

    37. It was just a racing incident. I’m a Kimi fan, but I wouldn’t blame anyone. These things happen all the time when they go three wide into a turn. Only the guy in the middle knows there’s three cars in the corner, and he has no where to go. And I wouldn’t blame Vettel for getting upset either. After drivers finish a race, they’re still buzzing with adrenaline and so I never really hold against them, things said immediately after the race. He hadn’t seen replays or stepped back to look at it again. In fact I like when the drivers speak their minds, instead of pretending their not upset.

    38. It was Maldonado’s fault.

      1. I’m actually missing that guy. Now there’s always a split on the blame for incidents, which was never the case when he was involved. Plus, his post race lack of regret was pure class.

    39. I believe it was Kvyat’s fault. yew there was a gap but not that big so he could pass. In the straight before the corner the gar was there but in the corner the gar was closing and there was no space for Kyat there. As a racing driver he must know that. Vettel was just between Kimi and Kvyat. He ”was sandwiched” as he said,he tried to back up but this wasn’t possible. Vettel complained because he knew it wasn’tright to crash with Kimi, and Kvyat forced him to. Kimi’s puncture was because of the collision with Vettel and the damage on the front wing was becaue of Kvyat. However Vettel apologised to the team and Kimi because this was the right thing to do, even though it was not his fault. Kvyat decided to play a game after the race and asked ”what happened”, knowing well that he caused the problems. To say the truth there is only one posotionfor the current Red Bull drivers. Ricciardo and Kvyat both know that someone else will come, maybe Verstappen. Kvyat is just afraid that he is the one that is going to leave andhe is trying to show his skills….This time it kind of happened.Next time he will crash and be out of the track. That’s racing…..

    40. Look in the picture above. What do you see? Kvyat clear in front of Vettel and about to torpedo Raikonnen. I’d say it was a smart move from Kvyat and anyone that says it wasn’t has never raced in anger in a proper motor race.

      1. That is to say Vettel is the torpedo, not Kvyat! Sorry for the poor English.

    41. @willwood

      I see what you did there…with the title ;)

      (hat tip)

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