Vettel: I gave Marchionne a heart attack...
Sebastian Vettel says Sergio Marchionne told him had a 'heart attack' watching the four-time world champion colliding with his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen on the opening lap of the Chinese Grand Prix.
Vettel clipped Raikkonen after what he claims was avoiding action of Daniil Kvyat, who had passed him up the inside of turn one, forcing him off the apex an into his fellow Ferrari driver.
With this playing out in the presence of Ferrari president Marchionne, Vettel - who went on to finish second despite front-wing damage - reveals the incident did not go down well with his 'boss' even if he was pleased to both make a strong recovery.
"He [Marchionne] said that I gave him a heart attack in lap one and after it was a good recovery. Fair enough, if you have cars of the same colour crashing into each other, for whatever reason, it's not great. Obviously we were lucky to continue and didn't lose too much in the amount of points we could score.
"It was another race where we didn't see exactly where we are in race trim. I think, as I said on that Sunday, it's no problem to race each other but it's not the target to collide and cause some messy damage for the team."
With Kvyat remaining defiant on the incident despite the backlash from his former Red Bull stablemate, Vettel was also staying steadfast in his critique .
"Honestly I'm surprised that two weeks after, this is still a topic," he added. "Everything that has been said needed to be said. I spoke with him straight afterwards, in the podium room, in the first occasion I got. I didn't know there were some cameras there but that didn't change anything - I would have said the same thing again.
"For sure after the race you're a bit hot, you're emotions are pumping but that's what we want. Why should I sit here and say, "maybe I should have been a little bit more quiet..." We're racing and I think you also say things, sometimes, that you wouldn't say it later in the same way. In that situation I said it the way I said it, I didn't say anything bad.
"I get along with him really well - I know there were questions if it was bad for our relationship but that's complete bollocks. I think we are racing, in the end it was a racing incident but, obviously, it had the best outcome for him because he made up the positions and didn't have problems in the car. For Kimi and myself it wasn't that great. These things happen."
