Carlos Sainz Jr said he did not see Romain Grosjean in his mirrors when the two battled for position during the opening lap of the Canadian Grand Prix, with the subsequent clash spinning the Spaniard into Felipe Massa, ending both his Massa’s afternoons at turn three.
The Scuderia Toro Rosso driver had made a good start and was battling Fernando Alonso around the outside of turn two, but then appeared to push Grosjean onto the grass on the run down to turn three, with the two then clashing again, with Sainz spinning as a result, straight into Massa, who was minding his own business up ahead.
Sainz was apologetic to the Brazilian for taking him out of the race, but once Grosjean had tipped him into the spin, there was nothing he could have done to avoid the incident.
“What a tough start to the race – I had a good start and was in P12, trying to overtake Fernando around the outside of Turn 2,” said Sainz. “He got better traction than me out of there so I focused on positioning myself to try and attack him into Turn 3 and, all of a sudden, I touched with a Haas that was on my right-hand side…
“I have to say I never saw the car there, it’s simply a dead angle in my mirrors so I never knew he was there. If I had realized I was there, of course I would’ve been more careful and left some space. Once we collided I was just a passenger, crashed into the wall and that was the end of my race unfortunately.
“I’d like to say sorry, especially to Felipe, who received a touch from me… I just couldn’t do anything to avoid it. It was a big crash, but I’m fine.
“Unfortunately, the whole weekend has been a bit difficult for us, starting with not being able to run in FP1, then yesterday’s qualifying and today’s accident… It’s now time to focus on Baku; luckily we have 20 Formula 1 races so we can forget this weekend!”