Kimi Raikkonen salvaged fifth in the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday after being spun around at the first corner by Scuderia Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel as the German took avoiding action as Daniil Kvyat attempted to undertake both.
The Finn was forced to pit with a puncture and damage to his front wing following the incident, and was towards the back of the pack before showing good pace to climb through into fifth at the chequered flag.
Raikkonen revealed Vettel apologised to him after the race, and knows the season is long to recover the points lost after the Italian outfit showed strong pace all weekend at the Shanghai International Circuit.
“I have no idea of what happened at the start, I suddenly got hit and spun,” said Raikkonen. “I had a puncture in the left front tire and a front wing damage, but I managed to get back to the pits.
“Once I went back on track I found myself more or less in last position, the car felt a bit tricky, but I tried to do my best to charge through the field. At the beginning I struggled a bit, but then I managed to recover some places.
“Obviously the fifth position is not ideal and not what we were looking for, but after what happened it’s not a disaster. Seb came to apologize to me afterwards and it’s obvious he didn’t run into me on purpose.
“Unfortunately this does not change things for the race but it’s only the third round of a long season…”
