Sebastian Vettel was left surprised by the amount of damage his Ferrari SF71-H sustained in the clash with Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton on the opening lap of the Italian Grand Prix.
The pair came together as Hamilton made a move around the outside of the German at the Della Roggia chicane after seeing a gap open up in front him.
Vettel, on the inside, suffered understeer and slid into the side of the Mercedes, pitching him around, with some small pieces breaking away from the Ferrari's floor and bargeboard.
Italian Grand Prix: Race result | Drivers' Championship | Constructors' Championship
With the Safety Car on the track so the marshals could clear away Brendon Hartley's broken Toro Rosso, Vettel was able to limp back to the pits and change his front-wing, rejoining the race at the rear of the field.
The four-time World Champion described the handling of his damaged Ferrari as "horrible" during the race.
Vettel managed to cross the line in fifth after climbing back through the field, and was promoted to fourth following the five-second time penalty for Max Verstappen.
"I was surprised when I got out," said Vettel. "The whole sidepod was missing, the forward edge of the floor until nearly the end of the outside structure, well the outside structure of the floor was gone.
"I mean, in the beginning, I obviously felt the contact and I could also see on TV that my front wing was hanging down. I could see some sparks, but we sit so low we don't see so much but I felt that something was not right and it was pointless so I came in.
"I thought it should be just the nose, I didn't see all the bits on the side, but when I got going again it was quite horrible to drive. I had a lot of snaps and moments but then I got quite used to it and could drive around it and when I got out of the car I was surprised myself.
"I asked during the race how the pace was compared to others and I was struggling a little bit in the beginning with the traffic, it was quite messy, but then our pace was decent given the damage. Obviously, without damage, it would have been faster and we would have been further up, but it was not the case after four corners."
Vettel now trails Hamilton in the standings by 30 points.
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