Vettel apologises to Ocon for Bahrain collision

Esteban Ocon and Sebastian Vettel have put their Bahrain Grand Prix differences aside after the German apologised for their collision during the race.

Ocon was hit from behind by Vettel on the approach to turn one, sending the Alpine spinning into the run-off area and facing the wrong way.

Vettel had pulled back in behind Ocon after being passed under DRS, but the sudden loss of downforce on his front wing caused the front brakes to lock, resulting in contact.

The four-time champion initially blamed Ocon for the incident, believing the French driver had cut back across him, only for replays to disprove his assumption, while the stewards made clear he was wholly to blame and handed him a 10-second time penalty.

Ocon, who eventually finished 13th, said: "There was a lot of wheel-to-wheel fights with Yuki [Tsunoda], with Antonio [Giovinazzi], with Seb. Obviously, with Seb, it did not end up well.

“We were out of the points. Seb came and apologised, it can happen but it’s a shame we didn’t get the result that we wanted in this race."

Vettel entered the opening weekend of the new season with an unblemished Super Licence but his misdeeds across the weekend, including ignoring double-waved yellow flags in qualifying, has marked the Aston Martin driver's card with five points.

If a driver accrues 12 points over a 12-month period, a one-race ban is automatically applied. Vettel received two points for the Ocon incident and three for his qualifying infringement.

Of his contact with Ocon, the German said: “I was sure he was leaving me space on the left but then he crossed back and as soon as I was behind him I locked up and couldn’t avoid hitting him.”

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