On the final lap of the 2015 Russian Grand Prix, Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen made an all-or-nothing attempt to get past Williams driver Valtteri Bottas, resulting in a collision.
The incident ended Bottas’ race and Kimi limped past the finish line 5th, before being demoted to P8 thanks to a 30-second penalty from the stewards.
After the race, Raikkonen refused to consider his move on Bottas as being “stupid” and recently said that he stands by his initial assessment.
“There were some discussions. I would still do it tomorrow again, that doesn’t change the story. Unfortunately we came together, we both lost a bit but that’s racing. I would still do the same thing next time.”
Bottas on the other hand feels as if the Ferrari driver moved when he shouldn’t have, and added that “For me as a driver, I’m not going to leave the door open two times. It was a different kind of situation” – while also referring to the first time Raikkonen overtook him at Sochi.
“Once he decided [to close the door], I tried to brake and turn in as much as I can but there was no way to avoid it,” added Raikkonen.
Sounds like the two will just have to agree to disagree, though watching from a neutral perspective, it did seem like Raikkonen took a big (and unsafe) gamble making that move – which is exactly what the stewards concluded.
Story references: autosport
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