Abu Dhabi GP: Ricciardo mystified by Vettel incident
Daniel Ricciardo insists that he was not to blame for Sebastian Vettel hitting a polystyrene board under the safety car in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
The Toro Rosso driver, who finished the race in 10th, was focusing on keeping his tyres and brakes up to temperature when Red Bull stablemate Vettel had to swerve to avoid him.
The German was forced to pit after the impact for a new front wing, dropping him to the tail of the field before he recovered to third at the finish.
Ricciardo believes that it is the responsibility of the car behind to be aware of what he was doing and that he was not driving unusually under the safety car.
"I have no idea what happened," Ricciardo, who had not yet seen a replay of the incident, told AUTOSPORT.
"I looked in my mirror and I saw him go through a polystyrene board.
"I have to look and see if I did anything wrong but he should be watching me.
"Everyone was doing the same thing, it's exactly what you do under the safety car."
Vettel, who finished third despite having to pit for a new nose after the incident, admitted that he was caught out by Ricciardo.
"I don't know what he did," said Vettel. "He was braking his car and I was surprised, caught out.
"Maybe I should have paid more attention but I went to the right and I wasn't very lucky that there was the DRS board, which I took head-on."
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About this article
| Series | Formula 1 |
| Drivers | Sebastian Vettel , Daniel Ricciardo |
| Author | Edd Straw |
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