Esteban Ocon says Alpine team-mate Pierre Gasly has apologised for the pair's collision towards the end of a wild Australian Grand Prix; crash takes both drivers out of the points in a race won by Red Bull's Max Verstappen; Gasly "gutted" after finding himself in a "surprising" P5 spot
Sunday 2 April 2023 10:55, UK
Esteban Ocon says there are "no hard feelings" between himself and Alpine team-mate Pierre Gasly after his fellow Frenchman apologised for causing their collision at a wild Australian Grand Prix.
Gasly and Ocon crashed on the penultimate restart of a race that featured three red flags and subsequently retired having been fifth and 10th respectively before the incident.
The drivers have said in the past that they are not the best of friends following a rivalry in their younger racing days but Ocon insists their smash at Albert Park will quickly be forgotten.
"After the chaotic restart it could have been anyone I collided with - a lot of cars were going off," said Ocon.
"It ended up being Pierre not leaving me much space but no hard feelings. He came and apologised and, as I say, it could have been anyone."
Gasly added: "I am extremely disappointed with the outcome of the race. I can't believe what has happened in the end. I don't even want to comment on the end. I am gutted."
Gasly and Ocon's collision prevented Alpine from adding to the eight points they had accrued across the Grands Prix in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, with Gasly particularly disappointed after finding himself in a "surprisingly" high spot.
The 27-year-old said: "I didn't expect to be in such a position so running in P5 was a nice surprise. I gave everything out there, I was racing with the Ferrari, had (Fernando) Alonso in my sights for the majority of the race.
I don’t think Esteban can take any blame. He was minding his own business. It was up to Pierre to give him room. Pierre knew he didn’t give him room and apologised.
"I was pretty much in the gearbox of Carlos (Sainz) for many laps, catching Fernando some laps. They picked up some pace towards the end.
"But all in all I don't feel like we have missed much to be fighting with them properly. I felt comfortable with the car which is good going forward."
Ocon added: "It was a tricky weekend. Nothing really clicked in our direction. Things that were out of our control, really. The red flag killed our strategy. We were fourth or fifth probably without that.
"It is extremely frustrating because we had good pace - similar to the Aston Martins and Ferrari - and could have been much further up."
Due to the cancellation of the Chinese Grand Prix, there is now a four-week break until the 2023 Formula 1 season resumes with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix at Baku's stunning street circuit.
The action is all live on Sky Sports F1 from April 28-30, with Sunday's race at 12pm.
Between now and then, we will be bringing you all the latest F1 news via the Sky Sports app and website.
