F1: Raikkonen accepts blame for shunt

Kimi Raikkonen accepted the blame for the crash that ultimately forced him to retire from the United States Grand Prix with overheating brakes on his Ferrari.

The Finn slid off the road shortly after switching to slick tires on the drying track at Cirrcuit of The Americas, hitting the barrier and getting tangled up with an advertising sign. He returned to the race after pitting for a new front wing and to replace damaged tires, but his team then ordered him to retire when it became clear a damaged brake duct was creating a terminal problem.

"It was my mistake, unfortunately," said Raikkonen. "It was quite slippery there, and I didn't see probably there was a little patch of water and I got loose on the rear.

"I didn't have enough run-off area, so I thought I would be OK if I hit the wall sideways. But then I got stuck to that advertising board, so I had to try to work with the steering wheel to get the board off the front wheel and then I managed to pull out.

"The brake duct got damaged, so the front brake overheated when I went out and we had to stop before we ran out of brakes."

Raikkonen said his retirement was particularly disappointing given how strong the Ferrari was in dry conditions, as proved by his teammate Sebastian Vettel finishing on the podium.

"We had a good car in these conditions and even with small damage the car felt good in the dry," he said. "It's not ideal in the end but I think we can be happy with the car as a team, so hopefully at the next race, no mistakes and we can get a result."

Originally on Autosport.com