De la Rosa Accepts Blame for Incident with Heidfeld

Spanish driver Pedro de la Rosa accepted the blame for the opening lap accident in the German Grand Prix which caused the retirement of himself and Sauber driver Nick Heidfeld.

De la Rosa smashed into the back of Heidfeld's car at the Jim Clark chicane and both drivers were forced to make an early exit. In his defence, de la Rosa said he took a gamble, but it did not pay off.

"I made a big mistake," said De la Rosa. "It was too late to stop it from happening but you have to take risks when you are down the field. Everyone was in first gear at the first chicane but I arrived to quickly and there was nothing I could do.

"I will apologise to Nick for ruining his race, but that's motor racing. I have been on the receiving end many times and I sympathise with Nick."

It was a miserable day for Jaguar altogether with Eddie Irvine having to retire when his car suffered a fuel pressure problem on lap 18 while he was running in the points.

"We should undoubtedly have scored some points today," said Irvine. "Regardless of how many cars dropped out, we were always well placed to fight for points and it's very disappointing to retire in this manner.

"I made a good start and was looking forward to scrapping with those in front of me. On lap 18 I began experiencing a misfire and had no choice but pit and call it a day. There are obviously areas that we need to get on top of quickly, especially when you look at the opportunities today of which there are very few in F1."