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F1 Belgian GP: It’s good TV if something is moaning - Verstappen

Red Bull's Max Verstappen insist the Ferraris were to blame for the contact at the start of the Belgian Grand Prix as they "kept squeezing me", before adding that Kimi Raikkonen's later moaning is "good" for television.

Verstappen, Raikkonen and Sebastien Vettel collided into Turn 1, with the latter sent into a spin as the others sustained damage to necessitate a lap one pit-stop.

Verstappen and Raikkonen later had a run in on lap 12 too, with the Finn forced wide, before a lap later the Dutchman shut the door on Kemmel Straight. Raikkonen was not amused, responding on the radio that this was "f***ing ridiculous".

Speaking after the race, however, Verstappen was unrepentant: "Yeah of course the start wasn't great but from there I dived up the inside, I didn't lock a wheel so I was easily making the corner but they just kept squeezing me.

"At one point I was on the inside, Kimi was again squeezing me and Sebastian just turned in on both of us. That took my front wing, I had a lot of damage and also the floor got destroyed so from there on your race is gone."

Asked if Vettel should have left more room, he added: "Definitely, I mean he knows that he's on the outside and suddenly he just turns into the corner where there are two other cars, so I think that's pretty logical."

Meanwhile, Verstappen was equally dismissive of Raikkonen's later complaints that the Dutchman's "only interest is in pushing me off."

"Ah he should say that at Turn 1... I mean, it's ridiculous. It's good television if somebody is moaning.

"Especially after Turn 1 when they do something to you like that, I'm not going to give up my position to them that easy afterwards."

Pressed on if was being a tad too aggressive, he added: "To be honest I think that's a big lie. I'm just defending my position and if somebody doesn't like it it's his own problem." 

Zdroj: crash.net