Webber: Vettel cost me shot at victory

Mark Webber hit out at Sebastian Vettel after the German crashed into the Australian during the final safety car period at the Japanese Grand Prix

Both men had stared in the race and were running in second and third when Vettel crashed into the back of Webber while the safety car was on track.

Red Bull driver Webber was extremely angry at the rookie after the race, and claimed the crash cost him a chance of fighting for victory.

"That was a completely disastrous finish," said Webber, who had to fight food poisoning during the race and even threw up in his car. "We were in very, very good shape to challenge Lewis for first today.

"We were strong and I didn't make any mistakes despite the tricky conditions, cars were aquaplaning and the visibility was very poor. Fernando's crash caused the second safety car stint, which bunched everyone back up again.

"That wasn't great; I would have liked to have continued to the end of the race. Vettel was a bit wild behind me during the first safety car period and then did a very good job of hitting me very hard under the second safety car.

"I think today he will have learnt a very valuable lesson."

David Coulthard benefited from his teammate's misfortunes to score his best result of the season with fourth place.

"That was very, very difficult," said Coulthard. "It's a crazy thing to be a racing driver - on the one hand you're scared, but on the other, you're having the time of your life because every moment you're right on the edge, even on the straights.

"I'm happy to score points, but obviously I'm sorry for the team to lose what looked like some great points with Mark. I'm glad the race is over, but it was a lot of fun out there."