Kimi Raikkonen received the backing from a former Mercedes driver in Nico Rosberg regarding the first-lap incident with Lewis Hamilton at Silverstone.
The current world champion had suggested that the Finn was involved in some “interesting tactics” by Ferrari and that their collision may not have been accidental before later admitting he overreacted and accepted the Finn’s apology.
In between this initial comments and his later withdrawal though, his former teammate refuted any thought that there was any intention from Raikkonen to take out Hamilton.
The answer is pretty simple. 100% not on purpose,” Rosberg said on his YouTube channel.
“Kimi is driving for his own thing. He was out there and just completely messed it up, braked way too late, locked up and torpedoed into Lewis.
“It is unusual for Kimi because usually, those kinds of things don’t happen to him. So a bit strange.
“But definitely not on purpose, and well deserved to get a 10-second penalty and two [licence penalty] points.”
Also always one to weigh in on a controversy, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner also claimed the moment was out of character for Raikkonen.
“When you have that growing tension, speculation is unavoidable when these incidents occur,” he said, trying to explain Lewis’ initial reaction.
“But I believe it’s nothing more than a racing incident.
“I would be surprised if there was anything else or if Kimi is that kind of driver,” he added.