Esteban Ocon accused team-mate Pierre Gasly of hitting into his car in a terse radio message at the Japanese
Grand Prix . It happened on the second start of the Suzuka race on Sunday. The first was aborted after only a few seconds after a hefty smash which took Daniel Ricciardo and Alex Albon out of the Grand Prix. Fortunately, every car managed to survive the second standing start of the race. But the Alpine drivers came close to a disastrous end to their respective races as they made contact heading into the first corner. Gasly swept around Nico Hulkenberg off the line, who had got off to a slow start, and then came back left on track to position himself for the right-handed. But team-mate Ocon was there and they made contact. Japanese Grand Prix stopped as Daniel Ricciardo and Alex Albon suffer huge Suzuka smash
Lewis Hamilton sends message of support as F1 race-winner undergoes open-heart surgery The front-right tyre of Ocon's car hit into the sidepod of the other Alpine, while Gasly's rear-left returned the favour. And the contact left the former very unimpressed and clearly of the opinion that his fellow Frenchman was at fault. "Pierre gave me a hit at the side, let me know if it's okay," he yelled over the radio. He would have been relieved when race engineer Josh Peckett informed him that, from what the team could see, there had been no damage done. It was clear that they had both been far more fortunate than the two drivers who were already out of the race. Ricciardo and Albon's touch was very slight but enough to send them both off track and into the tyre wall at Turn 2. This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more Watch F1 live Watch
Formula One on Sky Sports £22 a month Catch all the action from Formula One on Sky Sports and get exclusive access to races, qualifying and much more for every Grand Prix. From Max Verstappen to Lewis Hamilton, you won't miss a lap on Sky Sports. Sky Watch it here Ricciardo made a slow start and lost several places on the way down to turn one. All the cars got through that corner unscathed, but the Aussie ended up in danger as a result as he got in amongst the back-markers. As they looked to negotiate the famous Suzuka esses, there was light contact between the RB and the Williams of Albon and that was enough to send them both off the track. Ricciardo span around and smashed into the tyres, while the British-Thai racer was unable to steer himself off the grass and also crashed. Fortunately, neither driver was injured and both were able to get out of their cars. Race leader Max Verstappen was comfortable enough with his position to be able to enquire about the wellbeing of his former team-mates.