Ferrari licks its wounds after crash-strewn race
Ferrari recorded its first double-DNF since Australia in 2006 after both its cars crashed out of the Mexican Grand Prix on Sunday.
Photo by: XPB Images
With Kimi Raikkonen starting from the back of the grid after a terrible Saturday and a pre-race engine change, Sebastian Vettel lost his third place position to Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat off the startline with a poor getaway.
Vettel took the outside line into Turn 1 as the second Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo looked down the inside of Vettel at the first turn. Vettel turned in on him and they touched, puncturing Vettel’s right-rear tyre.
“Turn 1, closing the door, he was never really next to me and then I saw him, just his nose, in the last second and then opened [the corner] but it was too late,” said Vettel. “I already had the feeling [of a puncture] turning into Turn 2 and Turn 3.
“I’m sure this kind of stuff you can’t do it on purpose – so I’m not blaming him – but in the end where did he want to go? No room. Obviously it’s a pain when it hits you.”
Ricciardo said: “I’ll try not to shoot myself in the foot if it was my fault, as I’ve not seen the video, but I was just there. I wasn’t necessarily making a move or anything.
“We all sort of bunched up. I was there on the inside and didn’t feel like I could go anywhere else. He just basically took the apex as if I wasn’t there. I don’t know what else I could’ve done.”
Vettel later crashed out at Turn 7, causing a safety car, having previously had a spin there while battling back through the field.
Raikkonen forced out
Raikkonen’s exit was at the hands of Williams’s Valtteri Bottas – who went on to finish on the podium.
Bottas attacked Raikkonen, who had climbed to sixth from 19th, and tried to go around the outside of Turn 4.
Raikkonen held his line for Turn 5 and was punted up into the air as they collided at the apex.
“We touched and I lost the wheel and I end my race,” said Raikkonen. “That’s life. It’s racing, I haven’t seen the pictures, but the end result obviously wasn’t ideal for me.”
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