Ferrari duo, Verstappen cleared over start accident

Vettel, Verstappen and Raikkonen were going three-wide for the lead of the race on approach to Turn 1 when the Red Bull driver was squeezed between the two Ferraris, eventually making contact with Raikkonen on his left.

The Finn spun, his Ferrari hitting that of his teammate Sebastian Vettel and then collecting Verstappen and the bystander McLaren of Fernando Alonso at Turn 1.

Vettel, meanwhile, maintained the lead but his car had sustained significant damage and he spun out of the race moments later.

Neither Ferrari driver assigned blame for the incident in post-race interviews, but Verstappen believed Vettel was at fault, dubbing his move "not so clever".

However, after a post-race investigation, the FIA stewards have announced none of the three drivers involved would be penalised, as nobody was "wholly or predominantly to blame for the incident".

Their statement read: "The Stewards examined video evidence and heard from Sebastian Vettel, the driver of Car 5, Kimi Raikkonen, the driver of Car 7, Max Verstappen, the driver of Car 33 and the team representatives.

"Driver of Car 7 had a very good start and was able to attempt overtaking on Car 33 on the left hand side.

"At the same time, Car 5, which had a slower start, moved to the left hand side of the track; Car 33 and Car 7 then collided resulting in a chain collision with Car 5 and, ultimately, Car 14 (Fernando Alonso) at the next turn.

"The Stewards consider that no driver was found to have been wholly or predominantly to blame for the incident and will therefore take no further action."