BAKU, AZERBAIJAN - JUNE 25: Kimi Raikkonen of Finland driving the (7) Scuderia Ferrari SF70H on track during the Azerbaijan Formula One Grand Prix at Baku City Circuit on June 25, 2017 in Baku, Azerbaijan. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

The incident between Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton wasn't the only one we saw in Baku on Sunday as the race was littered with multiple accidents and was evident by the amount of debris on the racetrack, so much so it had to be red flagged at one point so that Marshalls could clean the circuit. In fact, it wasn't even the only incident between a Mercedes and a Ferrari!

On the opening lap of the race Valtteri Bottas collided with Kimi Raikkonen. The Ferrari driver was attempting an overtaking manoeuvre on the Mercedes around the outside of turn two, taking advantage of the fact that Bottas suffered wheelspin coming out of turn one, when the two collided.

Bottas, who was struggling to maintain his second place, kept the inside line, but as we had seen happen several times over the course of the weekend, by doing so he tripped over the kerb and went flying into the side of the Ferrari, pushing him into the wall and forcing him to drop down to fifth place.

The matter was investigated by the stewards, but no further action was taken, however that was just the start of Kimi's disastrous Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Kimi, who eventually retired after picking up debris from yet another accident, this time between the two Force India drivers (but that's another story) knows that his race was ruined at the start and it was all because of how early Bottas braked going into the corner.

“He braked very early, again, and I think he knows it was way too early braking, and I went just outside and it was fine, and suddenly I got hit from the other side. So I think he noticed he braked too early and just let the brakes go, and came way too fast into me. It was completely his fault, but obviously I paid the price.”

https://youtu.be/rWD0CWFSeQU

Bottas also suffered as a result with his Mercedes suffering a puncture that led to an unplanned pitstop that saw him a lap down on the leaders on just the second lap of the race, but with safety cars and red flags, the Finn managed to fight his way back up to finish the race in the same place he started, second.

But for Kimi, the result couldn't have been any more opposite.

Picking up debris that destroyed his right rear tyre, the Finn attempted to ring his Ferrari back into the pits to get a fresh set of boots. But due to the fact that the Baku City Circuit is so long, the second longest on the F1 calendar, by the time he got back to the pit entrance the damage was more than just a punctured tyre, with the barge board and floor shredded as well.

The decision was made to retire the Ferrari at that point and Kimi thought his day was done. Until the call came to red flag the race due to the debris on track. The call came a little too late for Kimi as his damage had already been done, however, the red flag gave the Ferrari team time to fix the car and send him back out when the race was restarted.

Then more disaster hit the Finn with a penalty for having the work to his car completed in the garage during the red flag stoppage with the rules stating all work to cars can only be carried out in the fast lane. So already a lap down and another penalty piled on top, Kimi ended up retiring from the race with just a few laps to go, but in his eyes it all started with the hit from Bottas at turn two…

“Not much I could have done,” he explained “I got hit at Turn 2 and there was quite a lot of damage on the car already on the left-hand side.”

This was not the first time the two Finn's have clashed this year after an incident in Spain earlier this season, however Bottas doesn't believe either of them were to blame….

“You know, it's a bit of a shame it's again me and Kimi, but we've been fighting for similar positions and it's just unlucky that it's us again. From my side, you know, I was on the inside, he was obviously outside, he did brake later and he was kind of ahead but I was on the inside. So then normally, inside you have the line. He was turning in the corner so that for me there was nowhere else to go other than over the kerb. And for me it was not an option to back off at that point. So yeah, just went over the kerb, bottomed out, the car jumped and hit him and I got a puncture.”

So who was right and who was wrong in this incident? The stewards said no one, that it was a racing incident, Kimi says Bottas and Bottas says Kimi. Bottas could have backed off, agreed, but this was the first lap and everyone was trying to gain or keep positions. Difficult call to make….