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Formula 1 Chinese GP
Raikkonen doesn't blame Vettel for first-corner clash
Kimi Raikkonen said he did not hold Sebastian Vettel responsible for what happened at the first corner of the Chinese Grand Prix, despite it wrecking his afternoon.
Jonathan Noble
Edited: Apr 17, 2016, 1:55 PM
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The Finn was forced to pit for a broken front wing and new tyres after Vettel clashed with him at the first corner of the Shanghai circuit after being forced wide by Daniil Kvyat.
And despite Vettel feeling that Kvyat was entirely at fault for what happened, he later said sorry to the team and Raikkonen after the race.
Speaking about the conversation with Vettel, Raikkonen said: “Obviously he said sorry, but unfortunately it doesn't change anything.
“I am sure he didn't try to do it on purpose. It is not ideal for me or for the team, but sometimes it goes like that.
“I paid the price for it but it wasn't a disaster after that. In the race we wanted much more but I rather take this than no points. It was a bad day but we still make the finish.”
Good recovery
Raikkonen believed that his recovery charge through the field to finish fifth was the best that could have been achieved under the circumstance.
“I lost the front wing and got a puncture so we managed to get back to the pits and we start from there, but it was pretty much done the race at that point.
“We tried to make the best of it. We struggled a little bit at the beginning but then managed to start going again.
“The car felt quite tricky. I don't know if it is something damaged or what the reason is, but in the end we start to work a bit better and managed to do a pretty okay race.
“It is not ideal. But after what happened we couldn't do much more. It was quite a messy race in many ways, but it is how it goes sometimes.”
When asked whether with a clean race he felt he had the pace to challenge race winner Nico Rosberg, Raikkonen said: “It is not possible to say.
“This is how it went, it is unfortunate. The end result is what it is. At least we got some points of it. I am sure in many ways it could have been better, but it is better than nothing. But it is not what we were looking for, but that is part of it.”
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