Fan video shows Kvyat causing Vettel’s race-ending crash

2016 Russian Grand Prix

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Footage shot by a fan at Sochi Autodrom shows the moment Sebastian Vettel’s race came to an end when he was hit for a second time by Daniil Kvyat.

The drama began at turn one. More pictures
Kvyat had already run into Vettel at turn two and as the pair rounded turn three Vettel slowed, possibly due to a damaged tyre sustained during the initial contact with Kvyat and the other Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo.

The second hit from Kvyat at turn three, which the video shows, pitched Vettel into a spin which sent him into the tyre wall.

The video also shows how close Max Verstappen was to being involved in the incident. The Toro Rosso driver rounded the outside of Kvyat’s car at speed moments after Kvyat struck Vettel. The other Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz Jnr also had to take avoiding action as the Ferrari and red Bull tangled.

Kvyat was given a ten-second stop-go penalty and three penalty points for causing the collision, which he accepted responsibility for.

2016 Russian Grand Prix

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    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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    86 comments on “Fan video shows Kvyat causing Vettel’s race-ending crash”

    1. Big Mag (@)
      1st May 2016, 20:17

      I dont think Vettel could have avoided the collision if he had been in Kvyat s car. Poor guy.

      1. Indeed. I don’t know how Kvyat could have avoided this, except perhaps react a bit faster to Vettel slowing. In that case, Sainz probably would have hit Kvyat from behind.

        Perez perhaps should have moved out of the way, if he still had enough control over the car.

        1. Big Mag (@)
          1st May 2016, 20:43

          Whit the speed they are making in this corner, and racing as close as they do, any reaction will be to slow. Also remember that lifting the throttle on a F1 at high speed is like an emergency braking in a normal car.

          1. Funnily enough if you watch the slow-motion replay at the end you can see Vettel countersteer. From the video there’s maybe 1/4 to 1/3 of a second from when Vettel slows to when Kvyat hits him, which is on the limit of human reaction speed.

      2. Absolute rubbish KYVAT is at fault, he hit VET once, and should have anticipated that VET may have had a puncture, broken suspension or diffuser or a combination etc or would have been tentative for half a lap. Instead he continues to try and win the race on the first lap.

        From the on board the car in front of VET was also sliding so VET was also reacting to that. These drivers are supposed to be top draw, so he should have exercised even more caution after ramming VET

        I hope MARKO fires him come the end of the year.

        1. Big Mag (@)
          1st May 2016, 21:23

          Nobody lifts in F1, and the only thing they they get credit for is taking a risk and make a pass. Kvyat is just as capable driver as Vettel, but hes not world champion a driving a Ferrari, so everybody jumps at him for hitting Bernies darling.

          1. @bigfoot
            How does calling anyone “Bernies darling” make your points more credible? And of course he had to lift. He had a puncture.

            1. Big Mag (@)
              1st May 2016, 21:53

              Because if Vettel have made the same mistake, the general opinion and the penalty would have been different. There is no secret about Bernies favorable treatment of Ferrari and this rubs on to Vettel.

            2. Big Mag (@)
              1st May 2016, 22:00

              And if Vettel have a defect on his car leading to the second collision, this should not cause Kvyat to get penalty point. How was the stewards reaction to Alonsos crash with Gutierrez? No, of course, hes a world champion so he didn’t get any penalty.

            3. @bigfoot
              Other than complete speculation, how do you know the penalty would have been different? And when has Vettel caused a collision, and not been blamed for it?

            4. @bigfoot
              Alonso didn’t get a penalty in Australia because only he’s a world champion apparently? Did that unwritten rule save Raikkonen in Russia last year?

              Vettel had the puncture because Kyvat already hit him and wrecked Ricciardo’s race. Don’t you think he should have got penalty points for that?

            5. Big Mag (@)
              1st May 2016, 22:15

              There has been many examples of stewards random actions in last year. And in my view they are not as harsh on the leading figures. Why is Vettel allowed to disturb the Red Bull team during the race? Nobody cares about that, but that shouldn’t be allowed.

            6. Big Mag (@)
              1st May 2016, 22:23

              Kvyat was given 3 penalty point, a 10 second stop and go, and half the F1 media was on his back. That is not fair.

            7. A) I don’t think Vettel lifted. It would make no sense at that position, and would actually almost guarantee an incident. Vettels’ more experienced than that.
              B) Despite DK’s recent aggressive streak, this was IMO a normal racing incident. The penalties are stupid.

            8. @geeyore

              If Vettel didn’t lift, how did they gap disappear so quickly?

          2. Thanks for making my point

            Alonso and VES had time to react, the closer you follow the less time you have to react = bad driving. No different to tailgating on the motorway. He should have applied more caution after the first malaise he created, instead he makes the assumption all is well and floors hit, not watching the cars ahead of Vettel, who Vettel was slowing for actually

            1. Big Mag (@)
              2nd May 2016, 16:44

              It isn’t in their mindset to try to foresee these kind problems. The are only focused on opportunities to pass, and to do that you need to be close. These accidents happens all the time, because the margins are so small. If you hesitate and don’t take risks you are left in the dust and will loose your seat.

        2. Totally agree – F1 drivers should be top-drawer. Not some paying cash to get a seat and only knowing how to drive bumper cars…

          1. RaceProUK (@)
            2nd May 2016, 0:17

            Kvyat isn’t a pay driver

            1. Yes he is.

            2. Are you kidding me? You think Kvyatt is in that seat on some independent metric of absolute skill and merit? You need to come to London and learn how this works.

            3. RaceProUK (@)
              2nd May 2016, 10:22

              Kvyat was part of the Red Bull Driver Programme, which means his career has been funded by Red Bull. Or are we just going to ignore that?

      3. Tin foiled fanatics.

      4. Every pilot can kick out a car without braking, Kvyat couldn’t stand inside the road at that speed, he just wished the collision. The second time was even more avoidable, cos that curve was a lot faster, but Kvyat wanted to kick out Vettel, simple as that.
        It’s not rubbish it’s unfair and had to be disqualified for two races at leasts.

    2. Keith, vettel slowed down because he saw the force India in front of him who was losing control of the car because of the puncture

      1. Thank you. How should Kvyat have anticipated on Vettel slowing down for Perez in turn 3?

    3. If the Toro Rosso’s hadn’t been able to avoid the accident, Kvyat would’ve been responsible for ruining Vettels, Ricciardo’s, Perez’, Verstappen’s, Sainz’ and his own race. Quite a feed. Luckily at least the TR’s escaped the chaos.

    4. Filmed from the Kvyat Grandstand :D

      1. ColdFly F1 (@)
        2nd May 2016, 9:56

        aka Torpedo, Madman, or Suicidal Grandstand.
        @banana88x

    5. Overall dans fault but the 2nd impact was a racing incident Seb slowed a lot for whatever reason and there was nothing he could do about that, it’s unfortunate that it happened to be him that tapped him first time(though not doubting the fault of Dan) and the non incident at the last race that Seb blamed him for.

      On a different note the standard of driving on the first lap this year has been frankly terrible ans this meant to be the best grid ever according to Brundle? I’ve seen F3 grids with better race craft

      1. Pedro Lucas
        2nd May 2016, 9:11

        He did not slow “a lot”. Look at the car to the left side of Vettel. It’s Hamilton. Vettel’s going at the same speed of Hamilton, actually he seems to go a little faster. If much, when he’s reaching top acceleration, he decreases the acceleration not to go full throttle, just because, you know, he’s had a contact from someone on his back in the first corner and the car might be feeling funny, and you know, that’s a curve where, if it it goes wrong, it can kill him. So may be he decreases the throttle a little. But still, he’s going at the same speed of Hamilton. Look at Hamilton, please.
        And you know…Kvyat “knows” what he did in the first corner. He “knows” the car ahead of him is the car the he just banged so there’s a may be 50% probability that the car in front of him is damaged… and he’s going on his tail at full throttle without senses in high alert ?

        Total lack of good sense from the Russian.

        1. Vettel did indeed slow down. Not just because of his own damage, but mainly because of a slowing Perez with a puncture in front of him. Kvyat was right on the tail of the slowing Vettel so he hit him. A mistake many drivers could have made.

        2. “He did not slow “a lot”. Look at the car to the left side of Vettel. It’s Hamilton. Vettel’s going at the same speed of Hamilton, actually he seems to go a little faster. ”

          Hamilton and Vettel both slowed down for Perez with the puncture, so that no good comparison. Kvyat obviously did not slow down like he should have, but he didn’t see Perez.

          1. When there is a sudden speed difference between two cars, you have two options…. 1. The first car slows down, or 2. The second car gets an incredible 2000hp boost in the middle of a high speed corner and jumps into the car in front….. you choose☺

            1. “2000hp boost”

              It’s called slipstream.

        3. I didn’t agree at all with Vettel in China, he left the door open for Kvyat and Kvyat did what he should have done.

          This weekend though, the blame lies solely with Kvyat. He took too much speed on the inside of turn 2, locked it up and ran straight into the back of Vettel. On the video you can see that on the run-off from turn 2 he is on the outside of Vettlel with all 4 tyres off the track, he then darts to the inside of Vettel almost pushing Sainz into Ricciardo, but Sainz yields, then it looks like Kvyat changes his mind and tries to move back to the outside of Vettel but runs straight into the back of him, again.

          The old adage “You can’t win a race in the first corner, but you can lose it” comes to mind.

        4. It does not matter why Vettel slowed down. He did. If you listen to the inboard you hear how he looses engine revs and then he gets hit.

          And as someone said, either Dani got an extra 200hp all of a sudden and found magic grip or Vettel slowed down.
          And a note on slip stream: This is in a corner where you need the aero to work therefore there is no speed advantage for the car behind.

          Dani is responsible for the first crash but the second one was a technical defect made worse by a car behind. (And there is no indication for a puncture, that was just the first guess). Probably the KERS system failed …..

    6. Holy moly that was close to ruining Hamiltons race!

      1. Yeah, I just saw that. Lewis nearly got taken out as Seb’s car spun

        1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
          1st May 2016, 21:44

          @dam00r close to ruining both Toro Rosso’s races too! They barely got away. Let’s see if this carries into a 3rd ruined race for Ferrari – Kvyat’s doing an outstanding for Red Bull. If he can take out 2 Ferraris per race, he’ll deserve that seat more than Daniel in the end.

      2. Exactly what I was gonna say. Lewis was right there, so lucky. Well being on the inside on correct line is skill. Any crash was gonna go to the outside… But still :D It could have been much much worse for Lewis.

        1. Noted, but I don’t think there’s really a correct line in Lap 1 T3. The correct line is whatever gets you away from the pack and into the front.

    7. Luca Garofalo
      1st May 2016, 21:04

      IMHO the second contact was hard to avoid. Vettel slowed down to hold the inside line and also for the puncture (maybe also because of Perez in front of him), Kvyat went flat out aiming for the outside of the corner (like VES did just next to him) and thought that Seb would have done the same, but then their lines met unluckily.

      1. imho you didn’t get what kvyat wished.

    8. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      1st May 2016, 21:38

      Completely Kvyat’s fault – watch it again and you’ll see he’s trying to get P4 in that corner for the start of the century. I
      We keep saying he slowed down but Hamilton is right there next to Vettel… Did Hamilton slow down???

      1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
        1st May 2016, 21:40

        Kvyat’s drafting to pass Vettel and Hamilton, it’s borderline absurd, as absurd as his move on turn 1 with 3 cars in front.

        1. Well :D IF there’s a gap on the outside.. you take it lol! :D Physics be damned! I am gonna call him Russian torpedo now.

      2. @freelittlebirds “We keep saying he slowed down but Hamilton is right there next to Vettel… Did Hamilton slow down???”
        In fact yes, they both slowed down to avoid Perez who had a puncture. I saw a onboard replay, too bad all these were taken off Youtube today.

    9. I’m not sure what any of you are on about. Vettel barely slows down. Look at where he is relative to Hamilton through the entire corner. He stays almost perfectly beside him the whole time. Kvyat builds up too much speed and can’t hold onto the corner, which causes him to drift to the outside of the corner quickly and smash Vettel. You can see him pull out from behind Vettel right before this as if he’s going for the gap between Hamilton and Vettel.

      Both collisions are 100% Kyvat’s fault, just like last race…

      1. Lewis slowed due to returning to track after missing the corner so…

        More reason to get rid of Tarmac run offs

      2. Mark in Florida
        1st May 2016, 22:59

        Exactly I was going to mention that also. Daniel is driving like an amateur.

        1. You mean Daniil and not Daniel?

          1. Mark in Florida
            2nd May 2016, 2:08

            Yes Daniil. Auto correct can be aggravating.

    10. It is very clear that Kyat crashed Vettel on purpose. He deserves the withdrawal of its license.

      1. In the first crash.

        1. ColdFly F1 (@)
          2nd May 2016, 11:25

          Kyat crashed () on purpose

          Mind Reader? @jorge-lardone

          1. After 50 years watching races, something like that, @coldfly…you can “feel” what are doing the drivers…

            1. Did Vettel hit Button on purpose at Spa 2010?

    11. Kvyat cannot avoid Vettel, but surely he can anticipate the puncture considering the turn and the speed… Of course Vettel will be flat out to start the turn, and yes of course following the T2 crash Vettel can possibly have a damaged car meaning he cannot take it at 300km/ph. It should have been anticipated by DK as he was the main reason of the damage.

      Opposite the general opinion I am not a fan at all of DK move in China (imo there was a gap to take but he was still way too aggressive with way too much speed for a lap 1). However I like DK attitude in such difficult time for him and his seat, it also seems Ricciardo is playing a bit as a politician in his media interview. Looks like both RB drivers feel the pressure from the young TR bulls ;)

      1. The China move was borderline: The 270 degree turn closes up towards the end, and the line chosen by Kvyat ment there was no place for 2 cars, certainly not for three cars at the end of the corner. If anyone doubts this, check the footage where Kvyat ended up at the end of the 270°. The thing started with Raikonen being far off-line, and Vettel being a bit cautious/slow, but Kvyat couldn’t leave space for 2 cars with his speed in the ever closing turn… Kvyat will have to be carefull, because a reputation sticks a long time! Ask Maldonado and Grosjean…

    12. I don’t see Vettel slowing. The Toro Rossos stay in exactly the same positions relative to Vettel right up to the moment of impact.

      What I’m seeing is an experienced driver on the throttle with a left steering input through a high-speed left hand sweeper. I’m also seeing Kvyat being drawn into Vettel’s draft as he (Kvyat) moves right, and failing to modulate his own throttle, so he gets sucked right in.

      Kvyat probably won’t be doing that move again in any short order.

      1. The 2nd impact was not due to draft(slipstream) at all.

    13. Vettel seems to slow down by quite margin and Kvyat plowed into him. I think the Force India ahead is a factor, that’s Perez, and he had a puncture on his right rear, the same corner which supports all the weight in that particular part of the track, so he surely was crawling back to the pits very slowly.

      I’m not trying to take all the blame off Kvyat, but this one doesn’t seem as one sided as it looked on the onboard shot for me. The big incident was the first contact, that was a big, big mistake! probably as big as Grosjean’s move in Spa 2012.

      1. How did Perez get a puncture ahead of this guys, better yet how did he finish so high in the points?

      2. Drivers need to be vigilant for slow cars in the next few corners after an incident at the start of the race, especially when it has resulted in debris all over the track. Vettel slowing slightly is perfectly understandable after he was hit earlier and had Perez ahead. I think Perez has just become aware of his puncture and is just starting to slow, so is not yet crawling slowly at this point, so I don’t think that Vettel has slowed by that much. Perez is clearly visible on the onboard video from Kvyat’s car, so he really should be anticipating any potential issues caused by a slowing car.

        1. People are forgetting Kyvat only have 2 eyes, and there are like more than 2 cars in front of him.. :)

    14. Hamilton surely knows how to go round the first lap in Russia . He didn’t have the best of starts but Vettel cut across him and he actually took evasive maneuvers and took the outside line. Whether he did all this deliberately I don’t know but he ended up unscathed as for Vettel who took the inside line. . .

    15. The way I saw the incident is hamilton short cutted the first turn, passing 5 cars, he then lifted to let vettel pass, which made vettels car under steer as he was off line making him slow and kvyat hitting him, and at that moment hamilton got gifted 5 positions and a genuine competitor for Mercedes was removed- is vettel,. Hamilton should have slowed in the runoff and blended back in instead of straight lining at huge speed and the slowing on the racing line!

      1. HAM’s fault then! :D :D

        VET was passing HAM easy as the Mercedes driver gave the necessary room. If you see the footage at turn 2, there is another driver taking the same route as HAM and if HAM stops there, there was going to be another crash.
        HAM only passed VET and KYV by taking the escape route (the other 2 cars crashed) so, he was let both drivers go. He couldn’t be anywhere else. KYV was to blame here! He deserves to be penalized… he did the same stupid mistake twice and he “only” took out VET as luck – he almost took HAM and other drivers with his stunts.

    16. Kyvat needs to register for iracing, that’s where he belongs, what a %$#%^&^!!!!!!

    17. My god, reading some of things I’ve read here in the last two days just disgust me. Community members here call themselves Formula 1 fans, even fanatics, and yet they display such a low regard for drivers. Kvyat made a mistake. He was hailed driver of the day on Formula1.com after China, and seemingly even Vettel accepted that he was right there. He went to his home grand prix a local hero and eager to prove it was not a fluke. All this got into his head and he made a genuine mistake, which he accepted. But ‘racing fans’ here are really reaching for pitchforks. A new Maldonado, an ammateur undeserving of a drive, a pay-driver of the worst kind, a mediocre driver, who hits other on purpose, a dangerous killer in the making, some who must be stopped, oh, and also an “%$#%^&^”. Just. So. Much. Hate…

      1. @zimkazimka Errr….welcome?

      2. villains are a convenient plot device.

    18. Vettel slows as a reaction to the puncture on Perez’s Force India …. he sees it and reacts. Kvyat is completely oblivious to what is happening in front of him (perhaps because “he only has two eyes”) and plows into the back of Vettel. Awareness, or the lack there of, is what caused both of these incidents and the Daniil is the one lacking.

    19. Two thoughts here.
      The front of the Red Bull car is mega-strong!
      Great fan video captured this so well. Good job!

    20. Adrian Martinez
      2nd May 2016, 22:42

      Kvyat say his rears locked and he could not avoid Vettel in turn 2. RBR has Kvyats telemetry from this first shunt with Vettel in turn 2 so someone knows the facts.

      The 2nd shunt in turn 2 was unavoidable and was Vettel’s fault or some car malfuntion. As before Ferrari has Vettel’s telemetry and, no doubt, knows the truth.

      These are just racing incidents and its just dumb luck that its the same guys 2 races in a row. At least F1 is not NASCAR where guys take each other just to get back at each other.

      1. The stewards held Kvyat responsible for both incidents and they have access to live telemetry. See this article on the stewarding at last years Russian Grand Prix:

        “we have access and 10 channels of telemetry for every car and all car radio traffic. We can see everything from speed to steering to g-forces to brake pressures to where a driver shifts gears. There is nowhere for drivers to hide any aspect of their performance. And sometimes there is no way to corroborate their excuses.”

        http://autoweek.com/article/formula-one/being-f1-steward-russia-real-eye-opener

        Kvyat locked up because he had misjudged his speed and as a result had to brake hard, the were three cars ahead of him covering the width of the track he could see this and should have reacted earlier (see Ricciardo’s interviews after the race).

        The second incident suggests a lack of situational awareness. Common sense should have suggested a more cautious approach after the contact in the previous corner. Kvyat should he anticipating cars not going at full speed or possibly slowing due to punctures, damage or having recently rejoined the track. He should be aware of Perez and Hamilton, he knew he had just hit Vettel and he should also know that he may have sustained possible damage to his own front wing (difficult for the driver to know as they can not see for themselves).

    21. AntoineDeParis (@antoine-de-paris)
      3rd May 2016, 1:11

      This second hit even if unavoidable, was a consequence of Kvyat’s mental state that day. Imo this guy just gone berserk.

      I watched the race start replay few times in max slo-mo and came to conclusion that Kvyat had no plan for the start at all. Seb executed a brilliant, surgical start, Sergio also used his head and made nice move at the end of the straight. Daniil just got caught like a deer in headlights after Vettel and Checo got away. It looks like his only thought was to follow Seb and break even later than him… He had time and place to react but he didn’t.

      I used this aerial view replay- https://youtu.be/XUZe1CHVuZI?t=199

    22. lockup (@)
      3rd May 2016, 8:30

      Watching the replay from Kvyat’s car both Vettel’s rear tyres look fully inflated out of T2 and he had enough traction to match the Red Bull. So I don’t think he had a puncture. Everyone was flat out at close quarters as always just after the start and Seb went from full power to a huge lift, we can hear in his onboard. I can’t work out if another driver could have missed him, but it was asking for trouble.

      1. even Reb Bull said that was unacceptable to crash in rear twice, and looking for excuses is really silly…

        1. I would say having an opinion that’s not based on the evidence is really silly.

          1. read that Dr. Helmut Marko said then…

          2. @lockup go read anon’s post above. Telemetry doesn’t lie.

            1. lockup (@)
              4th May 2016, 8:02

              What telemetry?

    23. Kvyat was clearly thrown into F1 a tad early, as driver faults and lack of situational awareness can have grave consequences and are not looked upon lightly. F1 is not a playground where you get time to learn.

      Only ready and finished goods should get in to race here.
      The Red Bull driver management school has a track record of dispensing of their talent pool with no patience to groom them properly. Kvyat may now become their next victim.

      It is a given that Kvyat will not race at Red Bull next season as Verstappen will get his seat next to Ricciardo. And Ricciardo is probably not taken in by Ferrari as long as Vettel is there.
      So Kvyat is under tremendous pressure to show other teams that he would be a good choice to hire for 2017. Retiring Massa, Button and several other good seats are bound to come up for the taking when the musical chairs season starts in July/August.

    24. Kvyat should have been shown the black flag after he hit Vettel’s car that second time.

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