Sauber’s Kobayashi says Hamilton was at fault during crash in Belgium Grand Prix – Formula 1 news
Sauber driver Kamui Kobayashi has said that McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton was at fault during his crash with him in the 2011 Belgium Grand Prix, held at Spa-Francorchamps on Sunday, August 28, 2011.
Kobayashi added that he was surprised to find Hamilton at his back during the race when he just turned left on the rack at Les Combes.
The Japanese commented, “I knew that I could not fight because he was much quicker than me. He overtook me and was using the DRS rear wing, which I didn't. I was just using KERS, but we were running very low downforce and that's why I caught him up again.”
He went on to mention, “If you look at the replay, I was always following the white line. I didn't change my line at all. I don't know what I needed to do. Maybe I needed to go into the gravel for him? He just had to stay in the middle of the track and not
come back. Let's say it was a racing incident.”
The 24-year-old driver had a good start in the Grand Prix. He was moving in the right direction before his controversial collision with Hamilton at Les Combes. The team driver was running for his fourth place, when Hamilton came from the back and hit him
on the racetrack. Due to that, Hamilton was sent out of the Spa circuit and Kobayashi tried again to cover his gap in the remainder of the race.
The Sauber driver was on a two-stop strategy in the Belgium Grand Prix. After struggling for his best finish following the contact with Hamilton, he came at the 12th place in the final race classifications.
After the successful Free Practice sessions, Kobayashi secured 12th place for the Sunday’s race in qualifying round at the Spa-Francorchamps on Saturday, August 27, 2011 in Belgium.
On the other hand, Hamilton admitted that he is 100 percent responsible for his collision with Kobayashi.
The teammate Sergio Perez retired from the Belgium GP due to having a rear axle issue in his C30 car.
Let’s see how both of the drivers perform in the rest of the ongoing season after their Belgium race results.
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