• Japanese Grand Prix

Raikkonen squeezed out at the start

ESPN Staff
October 7, 2012 « Perez admits to mistake while trying to pass Hamilton | Grosjean admits to 'stupid mistake' »
Kimi Raikkonen © Sutton Images
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Kimi Raikkonen says Fernando Alonso left him with nowhere to go ahead of the accident that took the Ferrari driver out of the Japanese Grand Prix.

Raikkonen and Alonso touched on the approach to turn one as the Ferrari driver squeezed the Lotus towards the grass. The contact resulted in a puncture for Alonso and he spun out of the race while Raikkonen managed to carry on with a damaged front wing.

"I was on the left-hand side all the way since the very beginning of the start and they came to the left more and more," Raikkonen said. "I tried to go more left but had nowhere to go and they all came to my side and touched my front wing. I couldn't go anywhere."

Raikkonen later lost out on fifth place to Lewis Hamilton, but believes he got the best from his car.

"Sixth wasn't the result we were hoping for but unfortunately we didn't have the speed to do better today," he added. "We lost some time [at the start] and our second pit stop wasn't the best, so overall it was quite a difficult race. The good thing is we still managed to score points to stay in touch in the championship."

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