Sebastian Vettel has said he is "getting tired of recovery drives" after he was once again involved in a clash which saw him drop down the order at the United States Grand Prix.
The Ferrari driver made contact with Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo, spun, and then rejoined at the back of the pack. He was able to recover to finish fourth and keep his title hopes alive, but threw away a possible victory which instead went to his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen.
"Should [have been] in a bit better position, I think for me a bit of a disappointing day, which after lap one was difficult to come back from.
"I think I must have been in his [Ricciardo's] blind spot. I am not sure he saw me so we were side by side but obviously the corner keeps tightening and I couldn’t really get out of it anymore so we made contact.
"He had the next corner then anyway but obviously it was a big loss for me to come back from."
When asked if he was at least happy to finish fourth, he replied: "Getting tired of recovery drives…"
The German went on to congratulate Raikkonen for his first win in 113 races, insisting the Finn was "deserving" of the victory.
"Happy for the team, happy for Kimi, he deserves to win more than anyone in the grid. Happy for him, not happy for myself, the good news is we had a good car this weekend in dry conditions so let’s see where we end up next week."
Vettel must win in Mexico with Hamilton finishing eighth or lower to keep his title chances alive.
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