Heikki Kovalainen insists that he was not at fault in the collision that sent Mark Webber flying, despite some observers suggesting he should not have tried to race the quicker Red Bull.
The accident happened after Webber dropped down the field following an early pit stop, and got caught behind the Lotus.
Kovalainen had been lapping approximately 2.3s slower than the Australian had been managing in traffic, but about 3.5s slower than the pace that leader Sebastian Vettel was demonstrating that the RB6 could run at.
The Finn says he braked 5m earlier than he normally would as he was in the centre of the track and was thus off his normal line while trying to defend his position.
“He ran into me, that’s all I can say,” Heikki told this blog. “I knew I was racing him, so I defended a little bit, not even very aggressively. I went a bit more than half way. Then I hit the brakes and he missed his braking. I think I was just over 5m earlier than my normal braking point, which is about half a tenth something like this before my normal braking point, because I was obviously off line.
“I felt him climbing over me and then I hit the wall head on. I saw him flying and obviously I thought it was pretty nasty, but it was good to see he walked out of the car. It was another good example of what the FIA have done about the safety, it’s fantastic.”
Heikki says he discussed the incident with Webber when they met shortly afterwards.
“I saw him in the medical centre when I had to go and do the checks there. He just said he didn’t know if to go left or right, and said he was surprised that I braked so early.
“In any case I think when you come to the braking zone you commit to the inside or the outside, not necessarily straight behind. I was trying to make him go outside, and I was expecting that he can quite brake late anyway, so I might struggle to keep him behind. As I’m racing for Lotus I need to have a go at him, of course. There’s nothing more that I have to say really. It’s just a shame.”
Adam Cooper F1 
“Heikki Kovalainen insists that he was not at fault in the collision that sent Mark Webber flying, despite some observers suggesting he should not have tried to race the quicker Red Bull.”
Those ‘some observers’ are idiots.
Would love to know where they draw the line between cars that should race and cars that should not?
Are they proposing some new flags or lights system for “racing for position but should not race”.
Just can’t get my head around this ridiculous mentality.
Mark said it was 80 meters, not 5.
I think it was 80m before his usual braking point, whereas Heikki was 5m before the Lotus braking point…
He left the racing line wide open, what Webber was trying to do on the dirty inside line only he knows.
Totally agree – if you are racing for position and not being lapped then surely you are racing or shouldnt be in the race