Narain Karthikeyan has defended himself following another on-track incident with Sebastian Vettel in Austin. The HRT driver was accused of holding up his Red Bull rival in the opening sector, just moments before Lewis Hamilton stole the lead.
However, Karthikeyan says he was simply driving to Race Director Charlie Whiting's instructions, with backmarkers told to move out of the way after Turn 8.
"I cannot listen to this nonsense any more," Karthikeyan is quoted as saying by Auto Motor und Sport. "In the drivers' briefing, Charlie said we do not have to let any one past in the twisty section of the first sector. It is simply not possible, because apart from the ideal line it is extremely dirty.
"Charlie told us that we should let the faster drivers pass after Turn 8, the first slow corner after the fast section. So that's what I did. Vettel was also present at the briefing, has he sometimes not been listening? He does this too often and it's too intense. Slowly, I'm starting to get tired of it."
Karthikeyan and Vettel memorably collided during this year's Malaysian Grand Prix, with the two-time Champion coming off worse and picking up a left-rear puncture.
Karthikeyan hits out at Vettel after Austin - GPUpdate.net