Sebastian Vettel slipped twenty-eight points behind Lewis Hamilton in the Drivers’ Championship after crashing out of the Singapore Grand Prix on the opening lap after contact with team-mate Kimi Raikkonen and Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen.
Although no action was taken by the stewards, Vettel appeared to move across on Verstappen heading towards turn one, which ultimately caused all three drivers to crash out, with the German spinning his already damaged car into the wall on the exit of turn three.
The Scuderia Ferrari driver apologised to his team for crashing out over the radio, and although disappointed with the result, particularly as main rival Hamilton took the victory, he will continue to fight for the championship across the remaining six races of the season.
“I had an average start and then I moved slightly to the left trying to defend my position from Max,” said Vettel. “Then I got bumped on one side as Kimi’s car hit me. I’m not sure what happened.
“I span at turn 3, but that’s because the car was damaged already. Today we were on the wrong side of the track, which doesn’t help.
“But there is nothing we can do now and for sure it is bitter, and it’s a pity we couldn’t show our pace today; but we have other races ahead of us and I am sure there will be more opportunities for us.”
