Ocon: Vettel incident would have hurt if it cost me points

Esteban Ocon has claimed that his collision with Sebastian Vettel during Sunday's F1 Bahrain Grand Prix would have hurt more if it had cost him a chance at earning points. The incident took place at Turn 1, where Vettel appeared to miss his braking point, before careering into the rear of Ocon's Alpine. The German driver lost his front wing and earned a penalty in the process, but given that they were competing for lowly positions, Ocon wasn't overly enraged in the immediate aftermath. "And now I've watched the accident. He [Vettel] went and came in to apologize," Ocon told RacingNews365.com and other select members of the press. "He got the penalty for it. So it's all okay. If we were fighting for good points at the time, I would have been more upset. It looks like I stay on my line, it looks like basically comes in my dirty air. So he's moving to the left to the normal line, but he's losing the grip, basically." The 24-year-old struggled for much of the Bahrain Grand Prix, only managing to come home in 13th position. It ended a miserable weekend for Alpine, who also had to retire Fernando Alonso from Sunday's race after a bag became lodged in his car's airbox . Ocon also reveals that he suffered damage from the clash with Seb. "We got a little bit of damage after that. But we managed till to finish the race, which, you know, show that we fought until the end for that one," the Frenchman continued. "We know where the performance is. It's up to us to find that and find more pace for the next events. That gives us a bit more of a margin."