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Raikkonen and Verstappen blame Bottas for Spanish GP crash

Kimi Raikkonen and Max Verstappen believe Valtteri Bottas caused their first-corner exits from the Spanish Grand Prix, but Bottas insists that he did not cause the incident "on purpose".

Bottas's Mercedes made an excellent initially getaway, but he braked earlier for Turn 1 than his rivals - allowing Raikkonen and Verstappen to draw alongside to his outside.

Bottas then clipped Raikkonen's right-rear wheel, sending his fellow Finn into Verstappen, which led to suspension failures on both the Ferrari and Red Bull.

"It all started when I got hit on my right-rear corner," said Raikkonen.

"It jumped a little bit and then obviously you cannot control a lot after that.

"Then we came together with Max, but it all started from the first touch. What can you do?

"I made a good start, got blocked by Bottas on the straight once, I had to lift already, and then we touched and my race ended there."

Verstappen added: "You can clearly see what happened - Valtteri hitting Kimi and then of course it was difficult for Kimi to control the car, so he then slammed into me.

"Normally three cars [into Turn 1] is doable, it's always very tight.

"It was unfortunate. When you're on the outside you know it's a bit tricky, I was just giving a bit of space, but then I got a Ferrari slamming into me. It's a part of racing.

Bottas said of the incident: "It was not on purpose, it's shame we collided, it was just a small touch really."

The collision was investigated by the stewards, who decided to take no action.

Zdroj: autosport.com