F1

Shanghai: Who was to blame for Turn one?

Following a turn one incident at Shanghai, a frustrated Sebastian Vettel was keen to have words with Daniil Kvyat in the driver’s waiting room after the race.

The opening long right hander in China saw the two Ferrari’s collide, as Red Bull’s Kvyat made a dive down the inside to ensure he moved past Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel early on.

Who was to blame?

The incident went down as a race incident, but was there anything the two drivers could have potentially done differently?

Sebastian Vettel, clearly frustrated by the collision which resulted in the German damaging his front wing, later described Kvyat’s driving as “suicidal” and also said he was “driving like a madman.” However, although Vettel was guided into the path of the oncoming Red Bull driver on his inside, there can be no blame attached to Kvyat who attacked the inside line well to move him ahead of the two Ferrari’s, in what turned out to be a successful race for the young Russian. “It was a risky move – I agree with Seb, but you have to take risks and I am on the podium” he reflected after the action packed race.

Raikkonen, who was on the outside of Sebastian Vettel, watched the chaos unfold as Vettel clipped his right rear tyre spinning him out of control. Vettel was quick to tell his team he had “no choice” but to make contact with his teammate. “I had no choice, I had the Red Bull on the inside of me driving like a madman.”

If been very critical, there could be the argument that Vettel should have conceded the corner and braked before he made contact with Kvyat, but in real time, in a sport with competitive racing nature, the decision not to investigate the collision seems more than reasonable. Eventually, Vettel and Kvyat did finish second and third respectively, however this wasn’t to prevent the pair from having a debate after the race.

“If I was to carry on, we would have crashed” Vettel claimed, to which Kvyat replied “don’t carry on then” Whilst laughing.

The drama is set to continue in Russia on May 1st, and the battle between Vettel and Kvyat is definitely one to look out for.