SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium -- A furious Kimi Raikkonen has hit out at Max Verstappen, saying the 18-year-old's driving should have been penalised at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Raikkonen and Verstappen collided at Turn 1 after the Ferrari driver was hit by teammate Sebastian Vettel from the outside, but it was Verstappen's driving at Les Combes on lap 12 that really angered the Finn.
Raikkonen was attempting to pass Verstappen on the outside and appeared to have the overtake complete when Verstappen braked late and dived back up the inside. The pair touched wheels, forcing Raikkonen off the track and across the run-off area before he rejoined the track after the next corner.
"I'm completely fine with good, hard racing but if I had to back off and even brake on the run down to Turn 5 [Les Combes], still on the straight, when I had made my move... when I have to brake not to hit somebody, as he moved afterwards, something is not correct. That, in my view, is completely not correct, but obviously for whatever reasons the stewards think it's OK. But if I had not braked we would have had a massive accident.
"The problem was that I was using the DRS, I was 15/20 kph faster than him and once I made my move, he waited and waited and then turned much later than me. And the speed difference is quite high, so I had to brake, slow down to avoid him. It's not exactly what should happen: when the other guy has to break from full speed - it's not correct..."
It's not the first time Verstappen has come under fire from his fellow drivers. At the Hungarian Grand Prix, Raikkonen accused Verstappen of moving in the braking zone and Nico Rosberg had a similar complaint at the German Grand Prix, although it was Rosberg who was penalised in that instance. Raikkonen fears only an accident will persuade Verstappen to change his style.
"I'm sure it will happen sooner or later if this doesn't change, but it seems to be OK [with the stewards]. It will be interesting to see when something will happen who's to blame... Like I said, I'm fine with good racing and hard battles but in that situation it was not correct, in my view.
"Obviously there are always different opinions from everybody. It doesn't change an awful lot, maybe he needs an accident before things become clearer to everybody, but hopefully not, because it can be a bit bad for somebody. And obviously nobody wants to see anybody get hurt. Like I said, I'm fine with racing and fighting hard, but something like that should not be correct, in my view. But there are always different opinions from different people, so let's see."