"I would still do the same thing next time and see if it goes better," insists Raikkonen two weeks on from last-lap collision with Bottas
Tuesday 27 October 2015 17:21, UK
An unrepentant Kimi Raikkonen has declared he would repeat his failed Russian GP move on Valtteri Bottas despite earning a penalty for the last-lap collision.
F1's two Finns came together on the closing lap in Sochi as they battled over the final podium place. With the Williams of Bottas ahead, Ferrari's Raikkonen attempted to dive down the inside but was never fully alongside his countryman and hit the side of the FW37.
Bottas was sent spiralling into the barriers, and although Raikkonen continued and dragged his damaged car over the line in fifth place, the veteran was later handed a 30-second time penalty by race stewards which dropped him to eighth in the final classification.
Most observers agreed that Raikkonen had been at fault, with Williams' Pat Symonds labelling it "a ridiculously over-ambitious move".
Two weeks on and Raikkonen and Bottas came face-to-face again in Thursday's drivers' press conference at the US GP - but F1's oldest driver was not in the mood for apologies.
"It hasn't changed. There were some discussions and penalties given to me, but I would still do it tomorrow again - that doesn't change the story," an obdurate Raikkonen insisted.
"Unfortunately, we came together in the end and both lost a bit, but that's life. That's racing. I don't feel bad about it but if somebody feels [different], it's up to them, it's OK for me. I would still do the same thing next time and see if it goes better."
Bottas, sitting behind his countryman in the press conference, was not budging in his opinion that Raikkonen had been the man at fault for wrecking his race.
"It was a good weekend until the last lap," the Williams driver said. "Of course, disappointing to lose the points, but my opinion hasn't changed. I wouldn't do anything different, but it's now history and I'm 100% ready to move on."
Although Raikkonen had successfully passed the Williams earlier in the race without contact, Bottas insisted: "From my point of view, the first one was quite a different one, it was much clearer that he would do it. As a driver, you're not going to leave the door open two times, so for me it was a different kind of situation - as we saw from the result."
Asked for his response to Bottas's comments, a bemused-looking Raikkonen then replied: "It was for him! Why would I need to reply? It doesn't change what we say [now].
"I saw it [the outcome] in the end but once you decided to go there, I tried to brake and turn in as much as I can, but there's no way to avoid it. What can you do?
"Maybe he didn't expect or didn't see me, but I tried to slow down and turn in but in the end, if there's no space, there's no space and we're going to collide. It's an unfortunate thing, but it's part of racing. You get penalised sometimes, sometimes not. We are here to race and it's pointless to cry afterwards.
"I'm sure the people [watching] like it more like that than just following each other."
Raikkonen and Bottas are separated by 12 points in the Drivers' Championship in the battle for fourth heading into the final quartet of races.
