» Petrov punished for Schumacher clash

Patrov piles into the back of Schumacher at Turn 3

Vitaly Petrov has been hit with a five-place grid penalty for the next Grand Prix at India, in the wake of the Russian driver wiping out Michael Schumacher from the Korean Grand Prix on the sixteenth lap of the race.

After Petrov has successfully overtaken Fernando Alonso with a DRS-assisted pass on the circuit’s long back straight, both Alonso and Petrov completely missed their braking points at Turn 3, with Petrov slamming into the back of Schumacher, who was turning into the corner.

Both cars were forced to retire as a result of the smash, and Petrov was quick to apologise to Schumacher afterwards.

“It was my fault and not his,” the Russian – who crashed out of last year’s Korean race – told reporters in the paddock.

“I tried to focus on Alonso to gain and defend one position, then I tried to out-brake and was on the dirty side – even Fernando was on the outside and also missed the corner.”

Having twice made contact with Petrov this season (at Turkey and Valencia, with both incidents being his fault), a magnanimous Schumacher accepted Petrov’s apology.

“That’s racing, it happens occasionally,” he smiled. “I have to say that we have had some great racing together this year, so to have a couple of get-togethers…the first two were my fault and maybe this time it’s his, but that’s racing.”

[Images via FOM]