Sebastian Vettel has said that there is not a lot he could have done differently in first lap collision with Valtteri Bottas as the 2018 Formula 1 French Grand Prix.
Vettel and Bottas touched after third-placed Vettel made a good start off the grid and was unable to slow his Ferrari enough to avoid the Finn in front.
Vettel has taken responsibility for the incident, for which he received a five-second penalty, but maintains that there was very little he could have done to avoid the Mercedes.
“In the end, there wasn’t that much I could have done differently,” Vettel said. “[I was in] just the wrong place.
“Obviously what you don’t see is that I lost a lot of grip and I saw it and I was aware of the two cars running around the outside trying to get their position on me. But I was stuck and I couldn’t slow down more than I did and obviously lost the car and hit Valtteri.
“So I guess the rule is causing a collision and that’s what I did because I lost the car. But was it intentional? Certainly not, because it could as well have been the end of the race for me.
“Obviously for Valtteri it was very bad because it affected his race and he had nothing to do with it, so I went to him after the race [to talk to him]. Given the situation, how tight it was, I think we were both lucky in a way to be able to continue.”
Vettel finished the race in fifth, with Bottas finishing in seventh with both drivers forced to make an extra pit stop than the rest of the field.
“Obviously we had a good recovery but it wasn’t the race we wanted.
“I haven’t seen it yet so I will look at it again, but from the inside it didn’t feel or didn’t appear that there was a lot I could have done differently.”
