New Headline: Lewis Hamilton Slams Mercedes Teammate on Safety Concerns, Warns of Dangerous Driving Style

Motorsport photo The fight for the final points-scoring place in the Chinese Grand Prix became physical as Esteban Ocon launched a highly optimistic move up the inside of Franco Colapinto ’s Alpine at Turn 2 on lap 32 of the race. As Colapinto took the racing line into the corner, he clipped the front wing of Ocon’s Haas and they both spun. Colapinto recovered and later passed Arvid Lindblad ’s Racing Bulls car for 11th, then benefitted from Max Verstappen ’s retirement to finish 10th and claim the final point.

Ocon was handed a 10-second penalty by the stewards for causing a collision and was classified 14th after making a second pitstop to serve it. “I deserve the penalty,” said Ocon in the media ‘pen’ after the race, having already approached Colapinto to apologise before they did the round of media interviews. “I was fighting with Franco the whole race, so that's clearly my fault on that last incident.

I was a bit over-optimistic and the gap was not really there. “There was one point to catch, which for me and him there should have been a lot more today. “I'm glad he still scored a point, because he drove a good race.

” Esteban Ocon, Haas F1 Team Esteban Ocon, Haas F1 Team Colapinto and Ocon were 12th and 13th on the grid and started on Pirelli’s hard-compound tyres, which required them to extend their first race stints to make the strategy work. Both drivers had made excellent starts, assisted by the absence of the two McLarens from the third row of the grid. Colapinto ran sixth in the early laps.