Raikkonen - Verstappen crash a 'weird accident’

Kimi Raikkonen described the incident that took himself and Max Verstappen out of the Spanish Grand Prix as a "weird accident" at the start of the race.

Entering Turn 1 on the opening lap, Raikkonen was trying to go around the outside of Valtteri Bottas, with Verstappen also on the outside of the Ferrari, leaving Raikkonen with little room in the middle. Bottas clipped his fellow Finn's right rear wheel, which in turn resulted in Raikkonen and Verstappen making more substantial contact that forced them both to retire on the opening lap.

"I had a good start but still on the straight I got blocked once by Bottas, I had to lift a little bit and go to the left," Raikkonen explained after the race. "Then, into the first corner, I left him space and somehow he managed to touch my right rear corner. When you get hit from behind there's not much you can do, so between Max and me there was nothing I could do. It's a shame, but I haven't seen the video yet.

"I think I left Bottas enough space, and all I know is I got hit from the right rear corner. I'm pretty sure Bottas had enough space but I don't know what happened.

"I got hit in the right rear corner, in the rear wheel. Max and I couldn't have done anything and it was a bit of a weird accident. Obviously it's a disappointing end of the race, especially after making a good start. The car had been quite OK the whole weekend, so it is quite disappointing to finish the race in the first corner. We'll try on the next one."

Bottas was not penalized after an investigation, but Verstappen himself held a similar view of the incident, saying Raikkonen was blameless for the contact that ultimately ended both of their races.

"An unfortunate start to the race which ultimately finished it also," Verstappen said. "I tried to go around the outside as there was plenty of room there. If Valtteri had not touched Kimi, we all would have had enough room to get through that corner. Due to the contact it meant Kimi lost control and slammed into me, but it wasn't his fault.

"Sometimes you have a bit of luck, like last year, sometimes you don't as we can see this year. It was shame to not be able to take part in the race after the incident as I think with this weekend's upgrades it could have been fun and we could have got a good result."