Verstappen: I did nothing wrong in Raikkonen battle

The Dutchman has come under fire from Kimi Raikkonen and several other drivers for the way he held back his Ferrari rival at the Hungaroring.

Raikkonen in particular was unhappy about the Red Bull driver moving twice to stave him off, and then later only defending the inside line at the first corner once they were in the braking zone.

But speaking ahead of the German GP, Verstappen was unmoved by what his rivals thought, and said he was the one who should have been unhappy because Raikkonen nearly gave him a flat tyre when they collided.

"I think in general I was very happy not to get a puncture, because I got quite a big cut in my tyre," said Verstappen. "I think it was all pretty clear.

"There was nothing said from the stewards as well, so I think I didn't do anything wrong.

"At the end of the day, we are fighting in the championship with Ferrari, so you don't say 'thank you very much, the door is open, you can go.' He didn't do it to me after the first pitstop.

"You are fighting and it is not like we are on a Sunday drive. And that is how I approach the race because we are there to fight, we are there to score points and I think Senna and Prost would have liked it as well."

Verstappen added that his moves had nothing to do with following the letter of the law, but came more from what he said was 'racer instinct'.

He also said that overtaking was always going to be an issue at the Hungaroring because it has never been easy to pass, and that is why he had not tried any crazy moves when stuck behind Raikkonen early on.

Asked about moving across on Raikkonen so late in the braking zone, Verstappen said: "There was no front wing or anything next to my car...I don't think it was that dramatic.

"You know it is very hard to overtake on that track. You could see after my first stop I was on new tyres, I was behind Kimi and couldn't get past. I didn't start to do crazy things, I didn't go too optimistic in the braking zones trying to pass, because there is just no way to get past."

Hamilton view

World champion Lewis Hamilton had an interesting perspective on the matter, as he suggested Raikkonen must have felt it wrong because otherwise he would not have bothered to be so outspoken.

"I've not seen the replay of the race," he said. "Kimi doesn't make too many comments in general, most often it's a serious thing.

"He doesn't talk shit if you know what I mean. If Kimi says it's not right, then it's most likely not right."