Michael Schumacher took the blame for his crash with Vitaly Petrov during the European Grand Prix at Valencia. The German driver made contact with the Renault at the first corner when the former champion rejoined the track after a pit stop, an incident which damaged the Mercedes's front wing.
Schumacher was forced to drive a full lap with the damaged front wing before pitting, something that cost him all his chances of a good result. The seven-time champion finished down in 17th place.
"Not a very satisfying race for me today," said Schumacher. "The outcome was decided after lap 15 when I slid into Petrov and lost the points I could perhaps have achieved. Our race pace should have allowed me to finish more or less where I started, but that is only speculation after the incident.
"I saw Petrov quite late, even though I was aware that he was coming, and tried to brake as late as possible and go around the corner with him. But when I wanted to draw back, I locked the front wheel and slipped into him, which was clearly my mistake.
"From then onward, the race was done and I just had to drive the car over the finish line."