Bottas: Vettel apologised and I had nothing to say

Th incident compromised the race for both drivers, the pair spent the afternoon playing catch up when a podium or even victory was on the cards before the start of the race at Paul Ricard.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix weekend, Bottas recalled, "He came up to me after the race an apologised, which was a nice thing, but there wasn’t much I could say as I had lost the points and couldn’t do anything about it."

"He told me it was his mistake, admitted to it and that was good. From my side, I know everyone can make mistakes, that’s what it’s like and there’s nothing personal from me against him. It happens and we move on."

"If I’m very honest, I think it was only him talking, I didn’t. He apologised and I had nothing to say. We Finns can even communicate without speaking, that’s a special skill we have."

On the day, Bottas suffered a puncture followed by a slow lap returning to the pits to change tyres. He recovered to finish seventh, but his championship hopes took a pounding as he dropped 53 points behind championship leader Hamilton and slipped to fourth in the standings after eight rounds.

But the Finn remains optimistic, "Never say never. I don’t see myself giving up on the championship. I know the gap is big but nothing is impossible in Formula 1 and we’re not even halfway through the year."