Hartley contrite about near miss with Gasly

BAKU: New Zealand Formula One driver Brendon Hartley has apologised to teammate Pierre Gasly after the latter was forced to avoid a massive collision in Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying.

Hartley was going slowly after hitting a wall and picking up a frontleft puncture when Gasly nearly hurtled into him.

The rookie, who made his F1 debut last year and is in his first full season, swerved instinctively and avoided contact.

‘‘It was really scary, the scariest moment of my career,’’ Gasly told reporters.

‘‘I was at 320kmh and . . . he almost stopped. I tried to avoid him and I was sure I was going to crash. I could already see myself in the air. I don’t know how I avoided it,’’ the 2016 GP2 champion added.

The Toro Rosso drivers had already collided in China two weekends ago.

The Baku incident wrecked their hopes of making it through the first part of qualifying.

‘‘It was a disaster, pretty upset about that,’’ Hartley, a Le Mans 24 Hours winner and world endurance champion, said. He had not realised Gasly was approaching at speed.

‘‘Obviously I was going half speed, trying to figure how bad the problem was and I completely messed it up... I made a big mistake. I’m sorry for him.

‘‘I owe him a big apology for getting in the way and nearly causing a huge accident. I’m disappointed how that went down. Not a good day.’’ — Reuters