Sebastian Vettel does not regret the comments he directed at Daniil Kvyat after the Chinese Grand Prix.
Vettel clashed with Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen in the first corner of the Chinese Grand Prix and blamed Kvyat for diving up the inside as they approached the apex. Vettel confronted Kvyat after the race, accusing him of driving "like a crazy", but despite the weight of public opinion supporting the Red Bull driver, Vettel does not regret what he said.
"Honestly, I'm surprised that two weeks after, this is still a topic," he said in the Sochi paddock on Thursday. "Everything that has been said needed to be said. I spoke with him straight afterwards, in the podium room on the first occasion I got.
"I didn't know there were some cameras there but that didn't change anything -- I would have said the same thing again. For sure after the race you're a bit hot, your emotions are pumping but that's what we want. Why should I sit here and say, 'maybe I should have been a little bit more quiet?' We're racing and I think you also say things, sometimes, that you wouldn't say it later in the same way. In that situation I said it the way I said it, I didn't say anything bad.
"I get along with him really well -- I know there were questions if it was bad for our relationship but that's complete b-----ks. I think we are racing, in the end it was a racing incident but, obviously, it had the best outcome for him because he made up the positions and didn't have problems in the car. For Kimi and myself it wasn't that great. These things happen."
Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne was in China to witness the accident and was said to be disappointed by the team's result.
"He said that I gave him a heart attack in lap one and after it was a good recovery," Vettel said. "Fair enough, if you have cars of the same colour crashing into each other, for whatever reason, it's not great. Obviously we were lucky to continue and didn't lose too much in the amount of points we could score. But it was another race where we didn't see exactly where we are in race trim. I think, as I said on that Sunday, it's no problem to race each other but it's not the target to collide and cause some messy damage for the team."