Esteban Ocon admitted fault and apologised to Franco Colapinto after their collision at the Chinese GP, as the stewards opted not to add penalty points to the Frenchman’s licence.
The pair collided shortly after Colapinto exited the pit lane in Shanghai, continuing a close fight that had run throughout the race.
Ocon attempted an inside move at Turn 2 but struck Colapinto’s car, sending both drivers into a spin.
The stewards judged Ocon to be entirely responsible and issued him a 10-second time penalty. However, they chose not to hand out any penalty points.
Drivers receive an automatic race ban once they accumulate 12 penalty points within a 12-month period.
Ocon accepts responsibility
Ocon accepted blame for the clash and admitted he had taken too many risks in the battle for the final points positions.
“Yeah, unfortunately, that’s the focus today of where we are and where we dropped from outside the points, unfortunately,” Ocon told media including Motorsport Week.
“We were looking very good at the start. I was fighting with Franco [Colapinto] the whole race, so that’s clearly my fault.”
“On that last incident, I was a bit over-optimistic, and the gap was not really there.”
Ocon felt both drivers had the pace to finish much higher before the race was disrupted.
“There was one point to catch, which for me and him there should have been a lot more today. Probably P5 or 6, maybe we could have been in, looking at the pace we had on the Hards.”
He also pointed to the timing of the safety car as a factor that left him chasing a single point late in the race.
“I deserve the penalty, nothing much more to say. Only that there have been two races in a row that we get the safety cars or the actual safety cars at the wrong timing, while there’s a lot of points to grab, same in Australia, same here.
“It doesn’t go our way at the moment.”
Ocon explained the move came from the situation he found himself in after the race had been reshuffled.
“No, not really. It was more of a desperate move because we were 5th or 6th on track before the safety car came. On real positions, that’s where we were.”
“There was only one more point to grab, so that was the only point for Franco to try and get. It was either I get him, or it was nothing today. It was taking all the risks, but it shouldn’t have ended that way.”
The Haas driver also confirmed he spoke to Colapinto afterwards to apologise.
“Yeah, I apologised. I was glad that he scored a point because he deserved it.”
Ocon also addressed the incident on social media after the race.
Colapinto recovered from the spin to finish 10th and score his first point since the United States Grand Prix in 2024, while Ocon ended the race 14th and one lap down.
Fans urged to stop abuse
Despite Ocon immediately accepting blame, the incident triggered a wave of abuse online.
Some messages even included death threats after he apologised publicly on social media.
Colapinto’s management team urged fans to stop targeting the French driver.
Emotions can run high after incidents on track, but threats and abuse towards drivers or their families cross a clear line that should have no place in motorsport.
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