Daniel Ricciardo absolved of blame by Esteban Ocon after first-corner clash

Turkish Grand Prix

Ricciardo absolved of blame by Ocon after first-corner clash

Ocon left Turkey pointless after being hit twice on opening lap

Ewan Gale

Wednesday 18 November 2020 09:43

Esteban Ocon refused to lay blame on team-mate Daniel Ricciardo after a collision between the pair led to a disappointing Turkish Grand Prix for Renault.

Approaching the first corner in Sunday's race at Istanbul Park, Ricciardo veered into Ocon as eventual race winner Lewis Hamilton made a move on the inside, pitching the Frenchman into a spin.

It was an incident for which Ricciardo apologised to the team and Ocon, whose race was further compromised on the first lap when he sustained a puncture after being hit by Valtteri Bottas.

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Renault left Turkey with a single point from Ricciardo's 10th-place finish, while Ocon was a position further back in 11th, resulting in the team losing out heavily to rivals Racing Point and McLaren in the battle for third in the constructors' championship.

Despite Ricciardo's apology, Ocon has stated that what unfolded was simply due to misfortune.

“A very tricky race, unfortunately," said Ocon. "We got a flying start and that was brilliant. I think it was probably the best start I have had in the year.

"Obviously I went [up] to third, and I have watched the video a little bit, and it’s just a very unfortunate incident in turn one.

“Lewis on the inside of Daniel and Daniel opens the steering and touched me on the rear and that made us spin obviously.

“I got going again and was still in pretty good shape, or a bit worse shape but still pretty good shape.

"Then I got hit by Valtteri into turn nine, who missed the braking point again, so twice [it was] the same but I had to pit because of the puncture, so that compromised my race completely."

Despite making an early stop and falling off the back of the pack in tricky conditions, Ocon managed to fight his way back up to 11th, just three seconds behind Ricciardo come the chequered flag.

The 24-year-old lamented the missed opportunity for collecting a strong points haul and revealed his hope for a turn around in fortunes after a run of bad luck which has hampered his second half of the season.

“Even though there was no safety car or nothing, we still came back to P11," added Ocon.

"We were a long way off but the pace was very solid and I think there were some good points on the table for us.

"It’s just I seem to have a lot of bad luck recently and I hope that will turn around.”

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