Kamui Kobayashi says that he didn’t do anything wrong when he was hit by Lewis Hamilton today – something the McLaren driver himself has now confirmed when he accepted blame for the contact.
“I know I cannot fight because he is much quicker than me,” said Kobayashi. “He overtook me. I don’t know if he was using the rear wing, I was just using the KERS. I think we have very low downforce, that’s why I catch up him. Just at the end of the straight I was staying left, and he was in the middle of the track.
“He came back and we just made contact. If you see the replay later, I was following the white line always, I don’t change at all my line. So I don’t know what I need to do – maybe I have to go to the gravel for him? That’s stupid, you know. He had to stay in the middle, not come back [towards me].
“Definitely I was not trying to overtake him, just staying on my line, doing my race.
“It’s a little bit difficult situation, because he’s fighting for the championship. I am doing a different race!”
Kobayashi himself finished 12th, blaming the decision not to pit under the safety car for not being able to follow up on a good early part of the race.
Adam Cooper F1 
I thought the rule was whoever was a wheel ahead could take the racing line and the second car had to move over or brake to accommodate them? (Hence the “Hanging Out To Dry Manoeuvre” to force them to lose pace to prevent a re-overtake). As established in the 90s after a spate of close fought overtakes ended similarly. Sure, if Hamilton has seen Kobayashi he would have compromised his line to accommodate him and avoid a crash, but surely the Kobayashi knew he wouldn’t have expected him to be there?
No, the rule of thumb used to be that the difference between being behind and being alongside was whether or not the trailing driver had at least half a car’s overlap or not. The “hanging out to dry” manoeuvre is a Sennaism which Schumi gladly appropriated and make ill use of. Kamui had every right to be where he was when he was, and Hamilton really ought to learn what his mirrors are for, especially considering what happened to him in Montreal when the boot was on the other foot.
That was completely Hamilton’s fault… What was Kobayashi supposed to do? Just disappear? It used to be that the responsibility of a successful pass lay with the overtaking driver. Hamilton didn’t do that.
Hamiltons accepted responsibility, see the other post, however your comment “It used to be that the responsibility of a successful pass lay with the overtaking driver” doesn’t really work. Hamilton had completed the pass on Kobayashi, who then came back at him using the slipstream.
I still can’t work out what Kobayashi was trying to achieve by trying to go up that side though, even if Hamilton had driven his line surely Kobayashi was destined for an off track excursion from that position.