Oliver Bearman handed apology after 'misjudged' accident: 'Gave him a shove'

Nico Hülkenberg has revealed he apologised to Oliver Bearman after the pair's coming together on the opening lap of the Lap 47 restart at the Mexico City Grand Prix ended the Haas driver's race.

The Audi driver tapped the rear of Bearman's car as the field bunched up following the restart, sending the Briton into a spin from which he could not recover, sustaining damage that forced him out of the race.

Hülkenberg was handed a 10-second time penalty for the clash, a punishment that dropped him from a potential points finish to P16 in the final classification.

The two had been scrapping just outside the top ten when the incident occurred, meaning both had their afternoons wrecked by the clash.

Speaking to media, including RacingNews365, Hülkenberg explained the circumstances that led to the contact.

"Yeah, it was just obviously racing Lap 1 [of the restart]; many cars bunched up together, and I was obviously racing another car, braking into Turn 4," the Audi driver explained.

"In the wake of all these cars, I just lost downforce and had a bit of a rear lock. I couldn't stop the car in time, and then gave him that shove."

Hülkenberg: 'I misjudged that one a little bit'

The German revealed he went straight to Bearman to clear the air once his media duties were done: "I went after the [media] pen and straight away to see him and the team, and apologised to them."

Hülkenberg was clear in accepting responsibility for the clash, despite insisting there was no malice behind it.

"It was not intentional, and it was not ideal, obviously, to finish his race like that. But yeah, it's on me," the 39-year-old acknowledged.

"But it's part of racing; in a way, these things can easily happen, and obviously I misjudged that one a little bit."