Sebastian Vettel believes Daniel Ricciardo must not have seen him up the inside as the pair made light contact and sent his Ferrari spinning on Lap 1 of the United States GP.
The German launched an attack on the Red Bull into Turn 12 but ran deep into the tight left-hander allowing the Australian to get alongside into the following right.
Trying to hang it out on the outside, the front wheels just touched with the momentum sending Vettel into a spin much like his incident with Lewis Hamilton back at Monza.
“I must have been in his blind spot, he must not have seen me,” he commented. “The corner was tightening and I couldn’t really get out of it anymore and we made contact.
“It’s obviously a shame. It was a big loss for me to come back.”
Sebastian would drop outside the top 10 but recovered back up to fifth before successfully passing Valtteri Bottas in the closing laps for P4 while teammate Kimi Raikkonen claimed the first win of his second Ferrari stint.
“I have mixed emotions,” Vettel said. “I’m really happy for Kimi, but I’m not happy with my race.
“It’s been tough weeks for the team and the tough times don’t seem to be stopping for me. It should have been a better day.”
With Lewis Hamilton only finishing third, however, it does mean the championship battle continues for one more week with Vettel 70 points behind with 75 available.
