Juri Vips says he was warned in advance that his fellow Estonian driver Ralf Aron would take him out in the final Formula 3 European Championship race at Hockenheim.
Vips, the winner of race two on Saturday, had gone into the final race with a shot at taking second in the championship away from his Motopark team-mate Dan Ticktum, while also trying to defend third place from Prema drivers Robert Shwartzman and Marcus Armstrong.
While battling with Mick Schumacher for second place on the opening lap of he race, Vips was knocked into a spin at the hairpin by contact at the rear from Aron, another Prema driver.
It dropped him to the back of the field, and although he recovered to 10th, he couldn’t stop lights-to-flag race-winner Shwartzman beating him to third in the standings.
“I got told before the race that I would get taken out by Ralf, and then I got taken out by Ralf,” Vips told Formula Scout.
“There’s nothing more to say really.
“I think I should have got second [in the championship], if the pace was really good I probably could have won that race.
“It’s a shame that it ended this way and that the politics have to interfere in a single-seater category. It’s a little bit sad.”
Aron finished fourth but was given a 20-second penalty for the clash after the race, relegating him to 15th and promoting Vips to ninth.
?He can think what he wants but it?s not the case, and I can?t say anything more,” Aron said to Autosport.
?If you look at the outside footage, I was fighting with [Alex] Palou and he squeezed me from the outside.
?I tried to get it stopped the best I could do, but to prove that I?m innocent [Sacha] Fenestraz couldn?t get it stopped either and he went over me.
?I guess everyone is going to have their opinions, but I can only say it wasn?t intentional.
?Why would I do it? To me it would be better if my teammate wasn?t third in the standings, because then I could say my car wasn?t any good!?