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Suzuka, Japan - Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel said on Thursday (October 6) he had done very little wrong when he collided with Nico Rosberg's Mercedes at the 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix.
The four-time world champion was hit with a three-place penalty for this weekend's Japanese race after darting inside the Red Bull of Max Verstappen at the first corner only to lock up and send Rosberg spinning.
Influencing the title race
The move ended Vettel's race, but Rosberg roared back to take third and stretch his lead in the standings to 23 points over team mate Lewis Hamilton, who was forced to retire after his engine caught fire.
Vettel, who has had a season to forget, was called an "idiot" by teenage tyro Verstappen, while Rosberg said his fellow German was "out of control".
READ: Malaysian GP disaster - Vettel an 'idiot in crisis?'
Vettel denied he was reckless: "I'm a bit surprised you say you've never seen me like this.
"I've attacked quite a lot of cars in all the starts I did in my life into turn one and most of the time got away with it - sometimes I didn't and I guess last time was one of the occasions where it just didn't work."
Vettel, who is languishing in fifth in the standings, called Rosberg to offer his version of events after Sepang, insisting he had been in total control.
Vettel said: "I went to the inside and obviously was able to go side-by-side with Max. As it turned out, I was probably a little bit too late in comparison to the first two cars but I made the corner.
"These things happen. I'm not shooting straight like crazy so of course it is a risk and in that case it didn't get rewarded. It was quite bad for Nico because he had nothing to do with it."
Overcoming the performance shortages
Vettel confessed he may have been guilty of pushing too hard at times this year as Ferrari struggled to keep pace with the rampant Mercedes and were out-performed by the Red Bulls.
Vettel added: "I don't think there is too much to analyse other than that you try to squeeze everything you can from the car at any time.
"Sometimes you find yourself overdriving. It's normal, it's human and sometimes you don't push hard enough, so it's about finding the sweet spot in the middle."
READ: Red Bull's 1-2 victory, Hamilton's engine woes… 2016 Malaysian GP Top 6 moments
Meanwhile, Spain's Fernando Alonso, who spent five years with Ferrari from 2010-2014 before rejoining McLaren, also weighed in on his former team's reliability issues.
Alonso said: "They are struggling a little bit now but it didn't change probably the situation in the last couple of years. Hopefully they can improve. I wish always the best for Ferrari. I will have always Ferrari in my heart."