Max Verstappen refused to accept any blame for causing two incidents with both Ferrari drivers in the opening laps of the Japanese Grand Prix.
The Dutchman maintained his third place grid slot off the start but would run deep in the final chicane on the first lap, pushing Kimi Raikkonen wide as he looked to rejoin the circuit.
Later, the stewards decided to give a five-second time penalty for the incident citing an unsafe return to the track after going off, but Verstappen didn’t know what he could have done differently.
“I braked a little bit too late into the chicane so I did everything I could to get back on to the track,” he said.
“I think I did it in a safe way because I was not crazy fast onto the track but Kimi chose the wrong line in the chicane.
“He could have also just waited for me to come back on the track so we touched a little bit but I think it is really ridiculous those five seconds, but anyway. We managed to survive that.”
After a short Safety Car period to clear debris from an incident involving Charles Leclerc and Kevin Magnussen, it was then Sebastian Vettel on the 21-year-old’s tail with the German attempting a bold move into Spoon after the restart.
“I think in that corner you cannot overtake, I even gave him space but he understeered into my car,” Max claimed, with Vettel unsurprisingly firmly blaming the Red Bull driver.
In that case, the stewards decided no further action but it would have a lasting impact on Verstappen’s race as a decision to use the Soft tyre for his second stint saw him chasing down the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas.
“The strategy, initially was a bit tricky with the Supersoft tyres but once we got the Soft tyres on, it was actually working really well,” he claimed.
“I think you could see at the end that we had the pace, even with the damage so I am really happy with that.
“We didn’t really have a chance [to challenge Bottas] but in general, to nurse the car home with the damage I had on the floor, we did a great job.
“It is a shame but still happy to be on the podium.”
