Hulkenberg says Raikkonen gave him no room in clash

With four laps to go, the Force India driver was battling for sixth against Raikkonen – who was benefiting from much fresher rubber.

Raikkonen went around the outside of Hulkenberg at Turn 4 and, as the pair went through the corner, the German got squeezed on to the inside kerb and spun.

Speaking about what happened, Hulkenberg said he had been lucky to avoid contact because he had not been given enough room.

"It could have have been an accident, where I could have ran into him and we both have substantial damage," said Hulkenberg.

"I was obviously defending, braking on the inside and on the dirty part of the circuit on very old, worn tyres, absolutely on the limit.

"He comes around the outside on fresh boots and just turns in on me and I'm like 'Dude, where do you expect me to go?' I can't just disappear in the air.

"So he could have given me more room for sure. I think it was frustrating anyway to be stuck there."

Hulkenberg admitted that Force India never really had the pace to take the fight to Ferrari, and that his focus had only been on Williams.

"We knew realistically that the Ferraris are not our race and our cup of tea, but the focus was Williams," said Hulkenberg, who eventually finished seventh.

"So from our point of view we did a good job today, and maximised what we could.

"It was a shame what Kimi did at the end, but I was on old worn tyres, and obviously he had much fresher tyres and a car advantage. I tried to hang on to it but no chance."