Verstappen hits out at "ridiculous" Vettel move
Max Verstappen labelled Sebastian Vettel's first corner move during the Malaysian Grand Prix "ridiculous" after the German compromised the Red Bull's driver's race.
Photo by: XPB Images
Vettel made contact with Nico Rosberg's Mercedes as he appeared to overshoot Turn 1 at the start of the race, the incident forcing Verstappen to go wide and losing him several positions.
The incident remains under investigation.
Verstappen hit out at Vettel, saying the German was trying to win the race at the first corner.
"He just dived up the inside, braked way too late, he just T-boned Nico. And I had to avoid the crash. It compromised my race as well," said Verstappen.
"I could see him behind me. He wants to win the race in the first corner, which is, of course, ridiculous.
"I saw him in my mirrors, so I just braked late. I was closing up a bit on Nico, but he just dived up the inside.
"It was such a tight radius already, to try and turn and brake that late, of course you will lock up."
Verstappen, who finished second behind teammate Daniel Ricciardo in the race, admitted his day would have been much different had it not been for the incident.
"Today I didn't have the luck already in Turn 1, otherwise the race would have been completely different," he said.
"But in the end it was a perfect result for the team. Daniel and I have a lot of respect for each other, so we definitely enjoyed it out there.
"Before that last Virtual Safety Car, I think basically we were going for the victory. But that's racing as well, sometimes that can happen. We were free to race, keep it clean but I think that's what we did."
Additional reporting by Andrew van Leeuwen
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