Sebastian Vettel says he was surprised to see Daniil Kvyat on his inside at Turn 1 of the Chinese Grand Prix, and that the Russian played a big part in his contact with Kimi Raikkonen.
The two Ferraris collided at the opening corner in Shanghai, forcing Raikkonen to pit for repairs, dropping him to the very back of the order.
While Vettel recovered to finish a distant second behind race winner Nico Rosberg, and Raikkonen fougth his way abck up to fifth at the chequered flag, the German questioned Kvyat's move after teh race.
"My start was not so great, so I was a bit on the back foot into Turn 1," said Vettel the post-race podium interview.
"Kimi locked up and went a bit wide, so I wanted to go on the inside to overtake him.
"I think Daniil was trying to do the same thing with me. He was coming with a lot of speed into that gap, and I was very surprised so I had to steer to the left to avoid him.
"At the same time, Kimi was coming across, and there was no room, so we made contact which was a shame because you don’t want the same colour cars touching each other.
The German did concede that Kvyat may not have had the best view of Raikkonen's movement going into Turn 1.
"Obviously it’s difficult to judge how it looked from his point of view," he added.
"Kimi came across, so I was sort of in the middle of both of them.
"In the end we were lucky because we could continue, but it's not the best result for the team, and I'm very sorry for that."
Kvyat accepted no blame for the incident, insisting that risky overtakes can be the difference between finishing on the podium and not.
“I had a really good start – if you see a gap, you go for it on the inside," he explained.
"It was a risky move, of course, I agree with Seb, but these kind of moves can bring you a podium. I’m on the podium, he’s on the podium, it’s fine. I’ll keep on taking risks like this, and everyone should expect that."
Vettel scorned Kvyat before the pair joined Rosberg out on the podium.
Here's what was said:
Vettel: "If I don't go to the left I crash and all three of us go out."
Kvyat: "Well…"
Vettel: "Oh no not 'well', you came like a torpedo!"
Kvyat: "Well that's racing."
Vettel: "That's not racing…If I keep going the same line, you crash!"
Kvyat: "Don't keep going…"
Vettel: "But there's a car on the left!"
Kvyat: "Like I can see all three cars ahead. I have only two eyes."
Vettel: "You shouldn't crash into people like that."
Kvyat: "We didn't."
Vettel: "You didn't."
Kvyat: "I'm on the podium so it's ok, you're on the podium so it's ok."
