What Esteban Ocon said to make Max Verstappen snap
Max Verstappen has revealed the sledge from Esteban Ocon that sparked their nasty altercation after the Brazilian Grand Prix.
As you can see in the video above, Verstappen confronted Ocon in the paddock after they collided late in Sunday’s race, with Verstappen angrily shoving his rival.
Verstappen, 21, has since been sentenced to two days of community service by the FIA.
The flashpoint came after Ocon crashed into Verstappen as he attempted to unlap himself and cost the Dutchman an almost certain victory at the Interlagos circuit.
Verstappen was fuming in the aftermath, and he has now revealed how Ocon’s lack of remorse tipped him right over the edge.
“I just wanted to look for him and ask what was going on and find out how something like that could happen,” he told Dutch TV station Ziggo Sport.
“But he immediately answered, ‘I was faster than you’ and said it with such a smile on his face.
“I tried to be as positive as possible towards my mechanics, but of course this second place doesn’t feel right.
“And then you meet someone like him who doesn’t even apologise for what happened and reacts exactly the other way around.”
The young Dutchman attempted to draw a line under the incident by shaking Ocon’s hand in full view of the paddock following their summons to the stewards on Sunday evening.
The incident on lap 44 cleared the way for Lewis Hamilton to secure his 10th victory of his championship-winning campaign.
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While Christian Horner did not condone the use of violence, he did not believe his star driver had overstepped the mark either.
“Drivers aren’t robots and we don’t want them to be,” Horner said.
“We have seen in other sports that there is interaction between players, and it’s down to the referee to step in and manage that. I don’t think it got out of hand.
“What I don’t know is what words were exchanged, and how Max was antagonised. Of course we don’t condone violence in any way but you have to understand that emotions are running very high.
“Through the irresponsible actions of a backmarker we’ve lost a grand prix, and it just wasn’t handled at all well by Ocon. It was totally irresponsible to be racing Max.”
with AAP