Raikkonen apologises to Sutil

The Force India driver was set for a fourth place finish after one of the best drives of his career when Raikkonen, running fifth, lost control of his car and hit the German's car from behind with just a few laps of the race left.

The damage left Sutil out of the race and in tears, while Raikkonen drove back to the pits to finish outside the points.

"Basically I just think my brakes were a bit too cold and I locked the rear," Raikkonen told reporters. "I nearly lost the car but unfortunately I hit him - and it is sad for them because they are not very often in the position to finish in the points.

"So, I feel a bit sorry for him - but I could not do anything. I tried to slow down but there was nowhere to go and nowhere to slow down - and I lost fifth place."

He added: "I said I am sorry for him and his team because probably they are not going to be often in the position to score a fourth position. Plus it was in Monaco. So it was harder for him than for me, but it was a racing incident and I could not go anywhere. There wasn't much space and I could not slow down.

"It was just a racing incident. I just locked the rear brakes on the bump and you cannot really slow the car after that. There was nowhere to go, and not enough space to try and avoid him."

The accident completed a weekend to forget for Raikkonen, who was unable to match the pace of Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa and also lost the championship lead to Lewis Hamilton.

"It was not one of the best races, but that is racing - sometimes it goes right and sometimes it goes wrong," the Finn added.

"I made some mistakes and the team made some mistakes, and we paid the price. But we will go to the next race and hope to do better."