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Kimi Raikkonen blames Valtteri Bottas for their first-lap crash

"It's not a good day when your car retires twice in a race," says Kimi

Kimi Raikkonen says Valtteri Bottas was "completely at fault" for their first-lap collision in the Azerbaijan GP.

Having also clashed at the start of the Spanish GP, the two Finns collided for the second time in just over a month when Bottas lurched over the kerbs at the second corner in Baku and struck Raikkonen's Ferrari a heavy blow.

"I did nothing wrong," said Raikkonen. "He braked very early, again. I went to the outside and it was fine and then suddenly I was hit completely on the side.

"I think he knew he had braked too early and then let the brakes go. It was completely his fault but I paid the price."

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A dramatic first lap in Baku included Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen coming together yet again.

While Bottas was able to recover from an emergency pit-stop to take second place, Raikkonen's race continued to go from bad to worse. As the former world champion later reflected with trademark understatement: "It's not a good day when your car retires twice in a race."

"We were able to keep going but then I was unlucky. The two Force Indias collided, some debris flew off and destroyed my rear tire. As a consequence, my whole floor and the rear wing were damaged and we decided to retire. When the red flag stopped the race we thought that we might try and go back on track."

Raikkonen duly returned to the race but it quickly became apparent that the damage done to his battered car was too grievous to continue.

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Asked by a reporter if he needed a change of luck, Raikkonen responded: "I don't know if it is anything to do with luck when someone drives into you. It is a mistake from the other side. If it is on your side, you can look in the mirror and think 'you paid the price because you messed it up', but this time it wasn't."

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