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Kimi Raikkonen slams 'joke' rules as F1 drivers' anger grows

Raikkonen, Button and Hamilton question aspects of F1 rulebook

Kimi Raikkonen has described the consistency with which F1 regulations are being applied as "a joke", amid growing discontent from drivers over the sport's rulebook.

The Ferrari driver vented his frustration over team radio during Sunday's Hungarian GP after feeling Red Bull's Max Verstappen was unfairly blocking him in their fight for fifth place.

Despite the Finn's anger, stewards did not investigate Verstappen's driving and the Dutchman successfully fended off the Ferrari.

Raikkonen was annoyed with both Verstappen's conduct and the stewards after the race - citing the 107 per cent rule controversy from qualifying in his argument to suggest the rules are not being applied consistently.

"There are so many rules discussed and in some rules you can move, but when the guy behind makes the decision to commit to something, and when the other guy moves afterwards it's difficult to avoid the car in front," said Raikkonen, who broke his front wing against the back of Verstappen's Red Bull.

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In a situation similar to the Spanish Grand Prix, Red Bull's Max Verstappen battled to keep Kimi Raikkonen from passing him, but they did collide on lap 57

"The stewards or the people who decide how things go here...in many ways it's a joke, the rules.

"A good example is the qualifying. You have the 107 per cent rule and the people who didn't go through from first qualifying they are applying it to those cars, but not applying it on the rest. So how can you suddenly have the rule and in the same qualifying apply it two different ways?

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"If somebody can explain to me how that works? But it seems to be F1 these days. Something must change because it looks bad to people outside [the sport] and it's not fair. There is a rule and it should apply in exactly the same way to every person."

The Hungarian GP weekend produced a series of rules controversies.

The stewards' Saturday night investigation into polesitter Nico Rosberg's pace while passing double-waved yellow flags in qualifying was debated publicly among drivers - a discussion which continued between Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton after the race - while the FIA's decision to further tighten the radio communication rules were questioned.

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In the post-race press conference, Mercedes pair Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg have a disagreement over double yellow flags

On Thursday, Sebastian Vettel described the revisions as "complete bull****"

Jenson Button received a drive-through penalty in the race after McLaren were adjudged to have contravened the rules by telling him how to get round a brake problem.

The Briton told Sky Sports F1: "There are certain things we shouldn't be telling drivers because we have to deal with it ourselves, but when you have a power unit that's so complex, a driver can't figure out everything himself.

"And when your brake pedal goes to the floor I consider that a safety concern, so I don't think you should be punished by fixing a safety concern that can end in an accident."

Don't miss the F1 Report: Hungarian GP review on Sky Sports F1 at 8.30pm on Wednesday as Marc Priestley and Ben Hunt join Natalie Pinkham in the studio to discuss the fallout from the Budapest race. 

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