Vettel had been a vocal critic of Verstappen's defensive style
Thursday 3 November 2016 08:35, UK
Daniel Ricciardo has accused Sebastian Vettel of hypocrisy for moving in the braking zone as they fought in the Mexican GP.
Vettel has been a vocal critic of Max Verstappen's defensive style of driving and a clarification - dubbed 'the Verstappen rule' - was issued ahead of the United States GP.
But after Vettel and Ricciardo fought over fourth place in Mexico, the Australian felt his former team-mate had been guilty of precisely the same infringement Vettel had accused Verstappen of.
After the incident was investigated by the race stewards, Vettel was handed a 10-second timed penalty several hours after the race which promoted Ricciardo onto the podium.
"He did what everyone has been complaining about - moving under braking," Ricciardo told Sky Sports F1. "He's smiling now but for me he doesn't deserve to be on the podium. He kept on closing the door under braking and in the end I had nowhere to go."
Ricciardo then argued that race winner Lewis Hamilton "deserved a penalty" for running across the grass at the race's first corner, a similar off-course moment that earned Verstappen his penalty.
"It was a mistake and you have to pay the price," said Ricciardo
Verstappen hits back at 'ridiculous' Vettel
Ricciardo also received the backing from team-mate Verstappen, who was not impressed with Vettel's driving or language.
"It's ridiculous what he did. Daniel was alongside him and he just turned into him," said Verstappen. "Then he is shouting and l don't know how many times he is using very bad language. I think he needs to go back to school.
"It's just ridiculous. I will speak to him. He is always frustrated. He is just a very frustrated guy."
