Daniil Kvyat claims Toro Rosso teammate Carlos Sainz was equally to blame for the collision that took the Spaniard out of the race on the first lap at the British Grand Prix.
The two Red Bull juniors came together entering the Becketts complex having been duelling since Copse three corners prior. Off-line, Kvyat slid into the side of the Spaniard resulting in his immediate retirement and also severely damaging the Russian’s car though he was able to continue.
Though the onboard appeared quite conclusive that Sainz was giving space to Kvyat at a part of the circuit two cars don’t usually go side-by-side, the 23-year-old, who was also deemed responsible for taking out Fernando Alonso and Max Verstappen at Turn 1 in Austria seven days prior, believes that wasn’t the case.
“I knew already that I wouldn’t be on the perfect line for Turn 12, where the collision happened, since Turn 10, because you’re committed to the corner very fast,” he explained.
‘The [other] racing driver (Sainz) knows when he sees what happens to me that you’re never going to be on the perfect line for Turn 12. So when you put yourself there, you know the collision is 90 percent unavoidable.
“I believe had the other car been anticipating it, it would have been trying to get me back on the next straight but it didn’t happen. You just put yourself there and say to your teammate ‘OK, you just crash into me’. That’s what I believe happened.
“And I completely disagree with the penalty,” Kvyat added. “Yes, of course, the responsibility is on me also, but I think we both should be feeling responsible for what happened.”
Another aspect he didn’t agree with was the reasoning the stewards gave for penalising him, ‘returning to the track in an unsafe manner’.
“Second of all I didn’t leave the track,” he claimed. “Me and the team both agreed on that because the punishment was for leaving the track and rejoining the circuit. I’m narrowly within the track limits and we believe the penalty was too harsh for what really happened.
“I’ve spoken with James [Key, technical director] and we’re both in agreement that we’re both responsible for what happened. It’s a bit of a shame. It’s a misunderstanding.”
The relationship between Sainz and Kvyat has been fraught for a while, with the former GP3 champion seemingly ending any intentions to work with his teammate, after suggesting he didn’t co-operate in an effort to help each other during qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix last month.
This incident has certainly done nothing to help that with the former Red Bull driver saying of their partnership: “It’s never been fantastic really, so I don’t expect anything to change, to be honest. Just carry on.
“To be honest, I don’t think I had any intention to be racing each other there. I left him room in Turn 11, and I expected him also to collaborate also in Turn 12, and this collaboration never happened. That’s what I think is the most frustrating, there was no intention to be aggressive with each other.
“Not from my side, nor I believe from his side. That’s the most upsetting thing. If you really push the limits and then you crash, you say ‘OK yeah, you were aggressive with each other’, but I didn’t have any intention to do that. When I was going wide on that corner, you don’t expect anyone to be on your outside there.”
