Red Bull believes Kimi Raikkonen likely didn’t see Max Verstappen before the pair made contact at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Another slow launch for the Dutchman had seen him lose two positions on the run to La Source, but in a similar moment to 2016, Max tried to squeeze through on the inside, briefly plucking the Finn onto two wheels.
Verstappen later hit the barrier at Eau Rouge due to the damage of his car, ending a run of points finishes stretching back a full season to Spa last year.
“I had a poor start, I don’t really know why but we’ll look into that,” he commented.
“From there onwards, I just braked maybe a little bit later than the two cars ahead of me but for me, it was all working quite well. I guess Kimi just didn’t expect me to be there so he just did his normal line and we touched.
“The track rod was broken after that, so that’s why I went straight on at Eau Rouge.”
Raikkonen was able to continue but could finish no higher than 16th between the two Williams as a result of what happened.
“We got a decent start and went to the inside then had to slow down a lot with the Mercedes slowing down and making a tight corner,” the 2007 world champion explained.
“I thought I was fine but suddenly I was on two wheels and that was it. I don’t know what happened, haven’t seen anything.
“I think it’s the issue always that the tight corners sometimes you have to slow down and everyone behind has to react.
“After that, it was almost pointless to be out there,” the Finn continued. “Obviously we stayed out just in case something weird happens, but we took a lot of damage to the floor.”
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Red Bull boss Christian Horner defended the rather ambitious move of Verstappen.
“It’s a racing incident. He’s gone in low, I don’t think Kimi knew he was there,” he said. “The problem is we’d had a poor start. At that point, you’re in the pack and unfortunately it’s bitten us today.”
His Alfa Romeo counterpart Fred Vasseur wasn’t so pleased with the 21-year-old, however.
“I don’t know what happened with Verstappen, but he came from nowhere, he was even behind Perez before the braking,” he claimed.
“He tried to get two cars in the first corner, and it’s stupid because in Spa you can overtake and you have room to do something. We are not in Budapest or in Monaco.
“The car was completely damaged, we were missing half of the floor.”