Manor Racing MRT team-mates Esteban Ocon and Pascal Wehrlein had different opinions on their clash during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as the pair battled for thirteenth position on Sunday.
Wehrlein was looking to defend the position from his team-mate, who was running with fresher Supersoft tyres, but the two clashed at turn eleven, with both running off track as a result.
“I was on a different strategy, had more pace at the end,” said Ocon on Motorsport.com. “Went to the outside but he didn’t leave any space, so we collided, I had to go off track.
“This race, all the overtakes I did, someone crashed into me. [Kevin] Magnussen crashed into me at the start, [Felipe Nasr – I was on the outside of him, he turned into me… and Pascal is the same, he didn’t leave me space, he locked up.
“There was a lot of damage everywhere on the car, but I didn’t lose so much downforce, so it was alright.”
Wehrlein on the other hand believed Ocon had plenty of room on the outside to make the move without needing to cramp his fellow Mercedes-protégé heading into the turn.
“I think I was on the inside, it’s difficult to leave someone enough room on the outside, I don’t really know what he means with that,” said Wehrlein.
“I think there was more than 100 metres room for him left on the outside, but if it’s not enough… okay.”
