Mark Webber said his spectacular exit in Valencia was caused when Lotus driver Heikki Kovalainen took him by surprise.
Aussie says Kovalainen braked too early ahead of horror smash
Mark Webber said his spectacular exit from Sunday's European Grand Prix was caused when Lotus driver Heikki Kovalainen took him by surprise by braking too early.
The Australian had dropped from second on the grid down to 19th place following a poor opening lap and an early pit stop in Valencia when he sought to pass the Finn.
Webber's Red Bull closed on Kovalainen's car on the long run down to turn 12 at the street circuit but, with the cars travelling at around 190 mph, the pair then touched.
His car became airborne and performed a backflip before landing upside down, righting itself and then crashing head first into a tyre wall.
The uninjured Webber quickly extricated himself from his wrecked car and, while not blaming Kovalainen for the incident outright, said his rival's braking point had caught him unawares.
"In the end the thing that surprised me was how early he (Kovalainen) braked, that's the thing which caught me out," he said.
"It didn't matter where I was or how close to the tow, I still had everything under control."
Playing hard
Although he was racing the backmarker for position, Webber also implied that Kovalainen should have let him through.
"I've driven slow cars - I've been at the back - and obviously when someone comes up with those kind of closing distances to be down the inside, bouncing off the limiter and carrying on like it is going to...," he said.
"I mean how long is that (staying ahead) going to last for? It's going to last another 15 seconds so is it worth it?
"I was looking for the best tow to get the job done and pass him and he was playing quite hard as well down the inside, blocking all of a sudden very aggressively."
He added: "It always takes two to tango, doesn't it? There's two of us in this incident. It was a nasty incident.
"I'm happy. I was just having a shower and thinking, 'Mate, you're lucky to be in one piece.'
"I was surprised by what happened. I'm a little bit tender here and there but the car did a great job."
Bad angle
In contrast, Kovalainen said he thought that Webber had braked too late for the corner.
"With Mark we were racing for position so I was always going to defend. I didn't do anything wrong and he just ran into me," he said.
"I think he missed his braking point and he ran into me at a very bad angle - his front tyre hit my right rear and he took off.
"I had to make a mandatory visit to the medical centre, and shook hands with Mark there, but I'm absolutely fine, and glad Mark is too."
