Kimi accepts Liuzzi apology for incident.

Kimi Raikkonen has put the spectacular accident that lost him the chance of victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix down to a mere racing incident, after the Finn slammed into the back of Vitantonio Liuzzi when he attempted to lap him.

Raikkonen had moved into a comfortable lead in difficult conditions at the Hungaroring from pole position, the Finn using his advantage of a clear track to make initial headway over his team-mate Pedro de la Rosa and Fernando Alonso.

However, when Raikkonen pitted, he claimed he was struggling with his second set of tyres, allowing Alonso to sprint away into the lead and also for de la Rosa to close a plus ten second gap down to less than a second.

Indeed, Raikkonen had been planning to let de la Rosa through when he misjudged the speed of Liuzzi's Scuderia Toro Rosso when he arrived to lap him, hitting the back of the Italian and climbing over his rear-wheel before eventually spinning to a stop at the chicane.

It was an accident that Raikkonen claims he could do nothing about, saying Liuzzi had slowed down and he couldn't react quick enough to move out of the way.

"I could do nothing to avoid the collision with Liuzzi," he said. "He really slowed down on the racing line and there was just nowhere for me to go except into the back of him. The start of the race was really good for me with my first set of Michelin tyres working really well, but after the first stop I was really struggling with grip on the front, and as a result Fernando Alonso was able to build on his lead.

"It is never great to end a race like that especially when there was every opportunity to win it, but we just have to move forward, and I really appreciate the gesture of Liuzzi
coming to apologise."

Liuzzi, who is celebrating his 25th birthday today, claims he was having problems with a misted visor and when he ran wide out of turn five, decided to ease off and let the McLarens through. However, he did not expect Raikkonen to not realise he was letting them past, insisting that it was a mere misunderstanding.

"It was a birthday with a bang. As for the incident with Kimi, I went wide, trying to let him by before the chicane. Probably, he did not expect me to slow at this point and so he ran into the back of me. This track is really tight and twisty and I was really trying to move over to let him by. It was a misunderstanding and I'm sorry as it ruined both our races."