Furious Raikkonen brands Perez an ‘idiot’

Title contender blasts McLaren driver over Monaco collision.

MONACO: Formula One title contender Kimi Raikkonen accused McLaren’s Sergio Perez of driving like an idiot after a Monaco Grand Prix collision that almost ended the Finn’s 23-race run of scoring finishes.

The Lotus driver and the Mexican made contact at the entrance to the chicane in Sunday’s race, while Raikkonen was defending fifth place.

Perez’s attempt to pass ended in contact with Raikkonen suffering a rear tyre puncture that dropped him right down the field.

“Actually that [idiot] is a nice word compared with what he really said,” said Lotus team principal Eric Boullier when asked about Raikkonen’s radio outburst.

The 2007 world champion, who had started the day four points behind Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel and ended it 21 adrift but still second overall, pitted for supersoft tyres and passed six cars in the final five laps to finish 10^th.

That was his 23^rd successive race in the points, one short of Michael Schumacher’s all-time record.

“He hit me from behind and that’s about all there is to it,” said Raikkonen. “If he thinks it’s my fault that he came into the corner too fast then he obviously has no idea what he’s talking about.”

Perez, who retired after the incident, recognised his move had been risky but pointed out he had got past teammate Jenson Button and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso at the same place.

“Raikkonen didn’t give me any room, there was nothing I could do to avoid it,” said Perez. “If someone could avoid the accident, it was him.”

Vettel equates Mercedes pace to a bus

Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel likened Nico Rosberg’s Monaco Grand Prix-winning Mercedes to a silver bus on Sunday.

Red Bull’s championship leader came second behind his fellow German in a race that ran like a procession through the Monaco streets in the early stages as drivers sought to manage the tyres to make a one stop strategy work.

“I was a bit surprised by the slow pace in the opening laps,” said Vettel, who had started behind the two Mercedes of Rosberg and 2008 champion Lewis Hamilton on the front row.

“Usually you expect two silver arrows in front of you and there were two buses today going for a cruise – at least in the first couple of laps. But obviously the strategy was clear and they did a very good job.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 28^th, 2013.