Finn Raikkonen also let his feelings be known after a race in which he finished ninth, two places ahead of Verstappen.
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“My start wasn’t great”, said the Dutchman.
“I was on the inside, Kimi was squeezing me and then Sebastian (Vettel) just turned in on both of us”.
“He knows he is on the outside and he just turns into the corner where there are two other cars”.
“That gave my front wing a lot of damage and, obviously, the floor was destroyed and, from there on, my race was gone”. At the Hungarian Grand Prix, Raikkonen accused Verstappen of moving in the braking zone and Nico Rosberg had a similar complaint at the German Grand Prix, although it was Rosberg who was penalised in that instance. “I think that’s pretty illogical”.
“There could have been a big accident”, he said.
Raikkonen swore over the radio because of a tactic Red Bull’s Verstappen has adopted repeatedly this year, which is to drive in the middle of the track and only make a defensive move at the last moment when he sees which way the driver attacking is coming. But if I had not braked we would have had a massive accident.
“It’s a big lie”.
“They just squeezed me to the inside, I didn’t even lock the tires, so it was not that I was too much on the limit. If somebody doesn’t like it, that’s his own problem”.
“It’s good television if somebody is moaning”.
Raikkonen’s teammate Sebastian Vettel was less harsh in his criticism of F1’s bright young star, but just wanted him to learn from his mistakes.
“I’m sure it will happen sooner or later if this doesn’t change, but it seems to be OK [with the stewards]”. “It was hard for me to see Kimi and arguably l should have given a little bit more room but l only found out afterwards Max was on the inside”.
“Kimi kept on squeezing but then Vettel turned in both of us”. Max from all the way back was trying to dive back on the inside.
The pair were involved in a three-car collision at the first corner of the race before later clashing as they sought to salvage a top-ten finish.
‘I am not going to give up my position. In that regard there was no way he could have made the corner without making contact’.
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Asked if he has been too aggressive at recent races, Verstappen said he was not anxious about what his rivals think of him.
