Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari), who lost the lead in the Formula 1 World Championship on Sunday after finishing fifth in the French Grand Prix following a collision in the first lap with the Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes), said that he had "nowhere to go" in the incident.
Vettel dropped to seventeenth place after colliding with Bottas' Mercedes in the first lap. He received a five-second penalty for causing the incident, but managed to recover to fifth place.
"My start was too good, but then I had nowhere to go. It was my mistake. I tried to brake early and get out, but I had no space or grip. I was very close to the car in front and also the one next to me," he explained.
"Valtteri tried to regain his position on the outside, which is fair enough, but then I had nowhere to go because the turn was to the left," he added.
Referring to the rest of the race, Vettel said, "We had a good pace. I was always on different tires than the rest and in the end I had much fresher tires than the others."
"I think we had a decent pace to at least keep up with Mercedes," added Vettel, who is now behind the new leader, British driver Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), race winner and with a 14-point advantage in the driver's championship.
Source: EFE