Jolyon Palmer nor Romain Grosjean have accepted responsibility for their first lap collision at the Russian Grand Prix.
The pair twice made contact at Turn 2, resulting in Grosjean’s Haas being pitched into the wall on the exit, bringing to an end a miserable weekend for both drivers with a crash in qualifying for Palmer leaving both men at the back of the grid.
Defending his role in the incident, the Renault driver claimed he was the victim of a squeeze as the cars concertinaed up in the braking zone.
“I had a decent-enough start then heading down to Turn 2 there was a Sauber on my outside then Romain made a very ambitious move over the kerbs on the inside from behind.
“There was no space for me to go because of the Sauber, so maybe Romain wasn’t aware of that, but he kept it in, hit me, then we were both out of the race. That was a shame for both of us really,” he concluded.
Giving his side of the story, the Frenchman claimed he had no choice but to take evasive action as a result of Palmer’s actions.
“We had a great start and I was on the inside of Palmer under braking,” he began. “I don’t know why he turned in. I was there and then he turned in. I tried to get as much as I could on the apex, but he just hit me, spun and came back and hit me again.
“I tried to get as much as I could on the apex, but he just hit me, spun and came back and hit me again. The car was badly damaged and our race was over.”
“The car was badly damaged and our race was over,” the former Lotus driver added.
A post-race investigation by the stewards later deemed no action was required to penalise either driver.