Sebastian Vettel insisted he did not trigger the collision between the two Ferrari drivers by turning left into his team mate.

Vettel and Charles Leclerc retired after making contact on the straight between turns three and four on lap 66 pf Sunday’s race.

Asked whether he felt he turned too much towards his team mate Vettel replied “No. I was going straight.”

“I had a better run out of the chicane, tried to pass, and then we touched,” Vettel added.

Leclerc insisted he left room for his team mate. “I overtook in turn one,” he said. “Then on the run to turn four I closed the door.

“I was aware he was on the outside, I left a little space but enough for him. And then I think he tried to squeeze me a little bit towards the inside. And we were very close so we touched straightaway and I had a puncture.”

The pair avoided any official sanction over the incident. The stewards ruled “neither driver is predominantly at fault”.

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However both drivers are being called to meet Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto at their Maranello base this week. Ferrari imposed team orders on its drivers earlier this year but Binotto said the pair had been allowed to fight each other in Brazil.

“When we tried to manage the drivers this season we have been criticised [for] doing it,” he said. “And when they are free to fight we may be criticised because of ‘free to fight’.

“I think there is always a reason for what we are deciding to do and today it was right to let them race, certainly, because we [already] secured the second place in the constructors championship.”

Binotto said the team needs to “clarify within the team what’s silly and what’s not, what are the limits of the actions.”

“When you’ve got a crash, something was wrong. No doubt. But when you’re free to fight, you’re free to fight and that’s a driving matter: how much you can take as a risk. But certainly here today the risk was not necessary.”

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2019 F1 season