Clash on track…
Fair play wins in the duel that pitted Esteban Ocon and Franco Colapinto against each other in the Chinese GP. The two drivers came to contact in the race during the 33rd lap, when the Frenchman from Haas tried to overtake on the inside at Turn 2 the Argentine who, with his Alpine, had just returned to the track after making a pit stop. Ocon, however, entered the corner too aggressively, lost control of the rear end and could not avoid the impact against his former car. Shortly after, a 10-second penalty arrived for #31 which definitively excluded him from the fight for the points zone. Colapinto, on the other hand, still managed to snatch tenth final position, thus obtaining his first world championship point since racing for Alpine.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Esteban Ocon (@estebanocon)
…and clarification off-track
Immediately after the race, via his Instagram profile, Ocon publicly apologized to his colleague: “First of all, I am very sorry for Franco: I take full responsibility for what happened and I am happy that he managed to score points, as he drove a great race – Ocon wrote – there are many aspects to analyze after today. We had a great start, but we were unlucky regarding the safety car intervention, which compromised our strategy. We will continue to give our best and I am sure the results will come“.
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Under the same post, first the Alpine team and then Colapinto himself appreciated Ocon’s gesture and accepted his apology: “Thanks for the nice message, Esteban – the Enstone team replied – there were many great challenges with you today. We look forward to continuing like this in Japan”. “It’s all good, mate!! Thanks for the apology, see you soon“, Colapinto’s conciliatory response.
