Petrov handed grid penalty for Schumacher collision
2011 Korean Grand Prix
Vitaly Petrov, Renault, Korea, 2011
Vitaly Petrov will be moved back five places on the grid for next race following his collision with Michael Schumacher in the Korean Grand Prix.
The stewards judged Petrov was responsible for the collision with Schumacher. His penalty will take effect at the next race in India.
Petrov apologised to Schumacher afterwards, saying: “It was not his fault, it was absolutely my fault – once my wheels were locked there was nothing I could do about it. But that’s racing and tomorrow is another day.”
He added: “I tried to defend my position from Fernando [Alonso] but I was in the braking zone on the dirty side of the track which meant I locked my wheels and hit Michael.
“I was focused on my battle with Fernando as there was potential for me to be ahead of him. We both braked too late as he missed the corner too.”
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Image © Renault/LAT
Alain (@paganbasque) said on 17th October 2011, 8:41
Both Vitaly and Fernando made the same mistake, but Alonso was luckier because he had enough space to avoid Michael. I can expect such a great mistake from Petrov but not from a double champion like Alonso.
It was a pity because Michael was doing a good race, improving his pace in the second sting. He could have finished ahead of Nico and Jaime.