Vettel said over the radio that “it’s Karthikeyan’s fault” after being passed by Lewis Hamilton, explaining in the post-race press conference that lapping the HRT allowed Hamilton to get close enough to attack.
Hamilton passed Vettel on the run to Turn 12 after the Red Bull driver had caught and then briefly become stuck behind the HRT in the sequence of corners from Turns 3-7.
It was clear before the race that traffic could be a problem in this part of the track and Karthikeyan drove in accordance with FIA race director Charlie Whiting’s guidelines.
“I spoke to Charlie before the race because I knew a situation like this could come up,” Karthikeyan told AUTOSPORT.
“It’s impossible to get out of the way in that part of the track unless we drive off the circuit.
“Charlie said that it was absolutely fine not to move over from Turns 3 to 7 so I did not do anything wrong.”
Karthikeyan added that as soon as he was through this section and reached Turn 8, he made space for Vettel.
“Once I was through there, I let him past and he overtook me at the exit of Turn 7 into 8,” said Karthikeyan.
“You cannot go anywhere else and it’s impossible to get out of the way before. You tell me where we can drive off the track?
“If he complains, it’s too bad.”
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