CARLOS Sainz and Romain Grosjean were left to rue a collision as they hunted for points at the British Grand Prix.

The duo, who drive for Enstone-based Renualt and the Banbury-prepared Haas respectively, collided through the 180mph Copse corner at Silverstone on lap 38 of Sunday’s race.

Sainz had qualified 16th, but was challenging for points at the time of the incident.

He said: “I had a great start.

“We lost some positions after the first pit-stop.

“But then, after stopping again for the soft tyre during the safety car, we were looking good to get back in the points. It was a shame for it to end like that.”

Grosjean, who started from eighth, added: “I haven’t studied the footage, to be fair.

“It felt like he turned in quite hard on the corner and didn’t give me much room on the inside.

“I tried to brake to avoid contact, but there was not much room for me to go. It’s a shame.”

However, there was joy for their teammates, who both added to their points tallies.

Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg finished sixth, while Kevin Magnussen was ninth in the other Haas.

The former said: “I’m very happy, that was a positive day.

“I think it was the maximum result we could have asked for.”

Meanwhile, it was another race to forget for Grove-based Williams.

Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin finished at the back of the field in 12th and 13th.

Both drivers had started from the pitlane after changing their rear wings following crashes in qualifying.

Stroll pitted just before the safety car on lap 31 and was unable to gain time on the field during that period.

He said: “That is luck in motorsport and it is a matter of hit or miss.

“The rest was okay and we were following the train.

“At the end I could see some cars ahead of me, so that was good.”