F1: Angry Vettel calls Karthikeyan a 'cucumber'

Sepang: World champion Sebastian Vettel didn’t just criticise Narain Karthikeyan after their clash in Malaysia – he called the Indian driver a vegetable… a cucumber to be precise. The back-to-back title winner’s points hopes went up in flailing Pirelli rubber towards the end of the rain-affected Sepang race following contact with Karthikeyan’s back-of-the-field HRT. Vettel clashed with Karthikeyan, punctured his tyre and crossed the line a lowly 11th. “He was off the track. In my view, it was over,” Red Bull driver Vettel, now 17 points behind the championship lead after just two races, said on German RTL television. “As in real life, there are a few cucumbers on the road,” the German frowned. [caption id=“attachment_255076” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Karthikeyan hasn’t had the best of starts. AFP”] [/caption] “It’s extremely frustrating, because in a chaotic race where I lost the radio right at the beginning, a fourth place would have been satisfactory.” More broadly, Vettel admitted that reigning champs Red Bull have some work to do. Asked about the current pecking order in 2012, he said: “We are somewhere in the middle. Fernando did a good race today but the key was to always come into the pits at the right time.” Karthikeyan, in response, didn’t want to name names in his response but said: “We do not want to be a hindrance but this does not give them the right to bully you.” At least, on this count, we are with Karthikeyan.