Michael Schumacher faces ten-place grid penalty for hitting Jean-Eric Vergne – Formula 1 news
Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher has been hit by a ten-place grid penalty for hitting Jean-Eric Vergne of Toro Rosso at the back in the 2012 Singapore Grand Prix.
Schumacher smashed Vergne from behind at turn 14 in the preceding race held at Marina Bay Street Circuit which unfortunately resulted in the retirement of both the drivers.
It will be important to mention that it is not the first time in the ongoing season when the veteran German driver has hit a car in the rear as he collided into Bruno Senna of Williams in the Spanish GP for which he received a five-place grid penalty.
Therefore, this time, the race stewards have given the seven-time world champion a ten-place grid penalty instead of five-place because it is his second accident of the season.
The record championship holder said that he is feeling very sorry for the causing the crash and expressed that he apologised to the French driver straight away.
"It was obviously a very unfortunate ending to my race this evening when I ran into the car of Vergne who accepted my apology straight afterwards," Schumacher said.
In addition, he said that he is not sure what happened with his car, however, he said that he tried his best to slower his car for the turn and pushed the brakes which didn’t work properly and eventually he hit the Frenchman.
Besides, he said he is feeling quite upset over the incident as he was aiming to score some reasonable points in the previous race with his updated car.
"I am not totally sure why it happened like this; I was braking but the deceleration was not as strong as it usually would be, and I could not avoid running into the car in front of me. We have to find out what has happened. Up until then, I think it would
have been possible to get some points this evening," he added.
Nonetheless, he asserted that he is positively looking forward to perform well in the forthcoming races and is targeting to secure a good position in this year’s championship fight.
Tags: