Hazelwood apologised for cool-down lap crash

The pair were squabbling over last place at the end of today's wet weather-affected 300-kilometre race when, after crossing taking the chequered flag, they made contact at Turn 1.

A somewhat heated exchange between the pair in the sand trap followed after Hazelwood ran over to Winterbottom's car to apologise and explain what had happened.

Recounting the incident to Motorsport.com, Hazelwood said his car aquaplaned on a puddle on the left-hand side of the front straight, where he was trying to drag race Winterbottom to the line. 

"On the final lap I came out of the final corner. He got really crossed up on the yellow line and I had a good run and overlap," he said. 

"We went across the start/finish line side-by-side and Frosty squeezed me all the way to the left-hand wall, which was fine. I've got no problem with racing hard. 

"But when I got to the inside part of the circuit the car took off on me and aquaplaned. I was a passenger from the start/finish line all the way to Turn 1. I had all four wheels locked up, trying to avoid contact with Frosty. But I hit him and we ended up in the sand trap.

"I unplugged and ran over to his car as fast as I could, because I knew he'd be thinking, 'what the hell?'. So I wanted to explain what had happened and apologise, because it's never a good look when you've got cars crashing after the start/finish line. 

"It was crazy conditions. It was either wreckers or chequers, NASCAR style. It's not a nice feeling when the car is fully out of control at those speeds."

Having not made much headway with his initial apology, Hazelwood later visited the Team 18 garage to offer more apologies to both Winterbottom and team owner Charlie Schwerkolt.

"Frosty was [initially] quite frustrated and upset," Hazelwood added. "And I would be too. Hence why I was fully apologetic. 

"I wanted to show that I'm not a spoilt brat that doesn't care. If these things happen, I want to come down here and apologise. To him and to Charlie."

The Hazelwood/Winterbottom incident wasn't the only post-race mischief that took place at the Eastern Creek circuit today. 

Anton De Pasquale had an embarrassing gaffe when, while trying to put on a drifting show on his way back to the pits, he speared off at the last corner and hit the wall with the left-hand side of his car.

The car will need to be repaired tonight as Dick Johnson Racing is holding a corporate ride day at SMP tomorrow.

De Pasquale played down the incident when speaking to Fox Sports following his third place finish in the race. 

“Me and Brodie [Kostecki] had a sick drift and I hit a bit of paint,” he said. “It’s all good, just putting on a cool show."