Verstappen ruined my race - Raikkonen

Kimi Raikkonen has admitted that the opening lap collision with Max Verstappen during the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday effectively ruined his chances of making an impact on the race, with the subsequent damage caused leaving his Ferrari not able to compete higher up the places.

During the opening lap in Suzuka, Verstappen found himself tumbling along the grass following a sharp corner, and in his attempts to get back on the track, clipped Raikkonen who veered right onto the kerb, suffering damage.

The Finn eventually finished fifth, but he believes his Ferrari was not competitive following the incident.

“My car got damaged pretty badly and it was I that got the worst out of it. What can you do?” Raikkonen said.

“I tried to go outside and leave him as much room as possible. He came from off the track, over the grassy kerb part, so maybe he couldn’t turn more or just ended up there.

“I lost quite a bit of downforce and there isn’t much more you can do after that, unfortunately. It’s quite a sensitive area where we got hit so after that it was pretty difficult.

“The car felt okay on the way to the grid but I know that we lost a lot of downforce, but without being able to do really any laps with a normal car, it’s impossible to say.”