Esteban Ocon was left frustrated after he exited a Formula 1 race for the first time in his career in the wake of opening-lap contact with Romain Grosjean.
Grosjean and Ocon came to blows through Ferradura on the first lap, with the youngster’s Force India sustaining terminal damage in the collision, despite his best attempts to return to the pits.
It marked the first time Ocon had failed to reach the chequered flag since his debut at last year’s Belgian Grand Prix, and also brought an end to his run of points, which stretched back to Canada.
“I’m not happy to retire from the race,” said Ocon.
“I knew this day would come at some stage, but I wasn’t expecting it to be today. It’s a shame because it has been three years since my last retirement in single-seaters [in 2014].
“There was nothing I could do; Romain lost the car in Turn 6 and crashed into me.
“He made a mistake and I suffered from it, my front wheel rim was damaged so I couldn’t even drive back to the pits.
“It’s frustrating because the car was quick and we had the pace to be fighting up there with Checo [Pérez].
“Days like this happen but I hope it will be another three years before it happens again.”
Grosjean was deemed culpable and was issued with a 10-second time penalty, but pointed to damage on his Haas as the cause of the clash.
“The only thing I can say about the opening lap is that I got massively hit in Turn 1,” said Grosjean.
“I believe I had a puncture on the rear left. I got to Turn 6 and lost the car, and I think it was just the puncture.
“Getting a penalty on top of that – I’m not super happy with it.”
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