Max Verstappen opens up on Sebastian Vettel incident: Ferrari won’t like this

After starting the race down in eighth place after a torrid qualifying yesterday, Vettel tried to overtake Verstappen at Spoon corner in a bid to move up to third.

However, Verstappen defended, the pair touched and Vettel spun off the track.

Vettel tumbled down the order to 19th and the pair were investigated by race stewards for the collision.

While no action was taken against either Verstappen or Vettel, the Red Bull driver admits the incident was similar to the one he was involved in in China.

Verstappen was penalised for his mistake in China and has suggested the incident in Japan was similar.

“It’s not a corner where you can overtake,” Verstappen told Sky Sports. “He could have gone past me on the next lap. It’s like the mistake I made in China.

“Even the most experienced drivers make mistakes. Looking back, it was like China and I got a penalty there.”

But a furious Vettel, whose title hopes have taken another huge dent after his disastrous race at Suzuka, has firmly laid blame on Vestappen.

“I was pushing to get past. I wasn’t desperate to get past,” Vettel told Sky Sports.

“I knew he had a five-second penalty. The gap was there, but as soon as he saw me, he defended, but I had the inside. In my opinion, he tries to push when he shouldn’t.”

The collision came just a few laps after Verstappen collided with Kimi Raikkonen and was handed a five-second time penalty as a result.

“Look at the incident he had with Kimi,” Vettel continued.

“It’s not always right the other guy has to move. I got through the whole field without any trouble.

“You need to always leave a space. In that case I couldn’t go anywhere.”

When he was asked whether he would try and overtake Verstappen in the future, Vettel said: “Do you ask him if he should think twice when he defends?

“This is part of racing. I don’t regret the move. With hindsight it’s always easy.

“His battery was clipping, mine was boosting. He didn’t give enough room and we touched.”