Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel has criticised 2018 Italian Grand Prix race winner Lewis Hamilton for not leaving him any space when the two tangled on the opening lap at Monza.
Vettel spun after tangling with Hamilton’s Mercedes as the two championship contenders attempted to navigate the Della Roggia chicane side-by-side when vying for second place on the first lap.
Mercedes’ Hamilton emerged from the incident without damage and entered a race-long battle with Vettel’s team-mate Kimi Raikkonen. Hamilton was victorious after passing Raikkonen in the closing stages.
Vettel could only recover to fourth place having switched to a two-stop strategy after pitting for a new front wing on the opening lap as a result of the contact.
“I tried to pass Kimi and then he opened the brakes and then I didn’t really have a gap and didn’t want to try something silly,” said Vettel when speaking to Sky Sports F1 after the race.
“So I got out of it. I think Lewis obviously saw a little bit around the outside but then I think he didn’t leave me any space and I had no other chance than to run into him and make contact.
“I tried to get out from there but I couldn’t and unfortunately, I was the one who was spun around which is a bit ironic but it was that way and then you are looking the wrong way and things are not looking too peachy.
“But from then I think we drove well and tried to recover. I think we still got a lot of points, so it could be a lot worse today.”
Vettel is now 30 points adrift of Hamilton in the drivers’ championship with seven races remaining. The Ferrari driver is, however, “not too worried” about the points deficit.
“Well, it doesn’t help when you lose points but it’s not the end of the world. Unfortunately, we didn’t deliver but then what can you do.
“If you get spun around there is not much you can do from there and obviously it could have been a good race but it wasn’t – [the race was] still very entertaining, probably more entertaining that way but not as satisfying.
“I’m not too worried [about the points gap] – if we have the pace then the points sound a lot but it doesn’t take a long time to get them down.”
Raikkonen led the most laps during the race and in the process was the first non-Mercedes driver to lead a lap of the Italian Grand Prix in the V6 hybrid era.
