This highlights the back and forth battle between Kimi Raikkonen of Scuderia Ferrari and Valtteri Bottas of Williams.
The two Finnish drivers battled tooth and nail to gain third place in the Russian Grand Prix that took place last weekend in Sochi in the shadow of the Olympic Park.
For the majority of the race, Bottas was ahead of his compatriot – comfortably maintaining second place.
Bottas focused mainly on managing his tyres while defending valiantly in the quest for vital points for his team.
After being overtaken for second place by Raikkonen’s teammate Sebastian Vettel, Bottas had to do everything in power to stay in the podium position.
The battle ensued but, unfortunately, met an abrupt end on the final lap of the race.
The pace of Ferrari was far superior to that of the Williams, therefore the Bottas began to face into the Iceman’s firm grasp.
Going into turn three, the Ferrari spotted a gap between Bottas’ car and the apex of the corner.
Seeing this, Raikkonen launched an attack on the inside of the Williams from a distance of 50 yards, in a last ditch attempt to secure third place.
When the Williams driver then went to negotiate the corner, he was unsighted to as the whereabouts of his fellow Fin – this lead to the two drivers making contact, contact that sent Bottas spinning into the tech-pro barrier at the side of the track.
Bottas vehemently replied with one simple line: “what the *expletive* did he do?!”
The impact that was sustained broke the push-rod suspension on the right front of the car, ending the race of the Williams driver.
However, the initial impact at the corner also ruptured a part of the suspension on the left front on the Ferrari, also breaking one side of the front wing.
All this collateral damage on the Ferrari ensured that Raikkonen’s quest for third was in vain as he limped home in 5th.
Third place was eventually taken by Sahara Force India’s Sergio Perez who had a front row seat to watch this drama unfold.
After the race, Kimi Raikkonen was found guilty of causing a collision and suffered a 30 second time penalty of which then relegated him to 8th position, adding true insult to injury.
