Max Verstappen Forced To Do 'Public Service' After Post-Race Shove

Esteban Ocon and Max Verstappen collided during the Brazilian Grand Prix after the former driver tried to unlap himself, prompting an awkward post-race scuffle

All sorts of bizarre things happened during the 2018 Brazilian Grand Prix. First, we had Sebastian Vettel accidentally destroying a weighbridge during qualifying (below), but the weekend’s weirdest moment was yet to come.

During the race, Esteban Ocon - two laps down but going quickly on softer tyres - took a lunge up the inside of Max Verstappen’s Red Bull in an attempt to unlap himself. That’s not against the rules, but the Dutchman clearly wasn’t expecting to see a pink Force India appear to his right, and the pair collided.

Both were able to continue, but the contact cost Verstappen the lead of the race, effectively handing the win to Lewis Hamilton. Max wasn’t happy, and in Parc Ferme the 21-year-old was filmed shoving Ocon several times, giving us our third weird moment of the GP.

The stewards took a dim view of the incident, ordering Verstappen to complete two days of “public service” as penance. In a statement, the FIA said:

“The Stewards held a hearing, in which both drivers acted appropriately and cooperated with the Stewards. The Stewards understood from Max Verstappen that he was extremely upset by the incident on track and accepted his explanation that it was not his original intent to strike Ocon, but that he was ‘triggered’ and caused him to lose his temper.

“While sympathetic to Verstappen’s passion, the Stewards determined that it is the obligation of sportsmen at this level to act appropriately and as role models to other drivers at all levels and found that Verstappen failed in this respect.

“The Stewards therefore ordered that Max Verstappen is required to perform two days of public service at the direction of the FIA within six months of the incident.”

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was quick to defend his driver. “I think Max has been pretty restrained. It’s cost him a Grand Prix victory,” he told Sky Sports F1, adding, “Esteban was lucky to get away with a push, to be honest with you”. Ouch.

Ocon branded Verstappen’s behaviour as “Violent and unprofessional,” while the latter claimed Esteban “was being a pussy”. Things seemed to have calmed down between the drivers since those comments - they were later seen shaking hands in the paddock.

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Comments

Mr. Kei (A Random Corolla) (ZoomZoomer32) (KÀfer fĂƒÂŒr i

If FIA do his job, they should penalise Vettel for have inspired the Ocon’s move by hitting the cone (sarcastic)

11/12/2018 - 09:49 |
14 | 2
CannedRex24

im honestly confused as to why Ocon did that. he was already 2 laps down,

a 3rd doesnt really count does it?

11/12/2018 - 10:11 |
86 | 4

A driver may unlap himself should he so wish.. Ocon was faster on track at that moment.

Max was thinking “he’s gonna stop because I’m winning”. But this is Ocon. He’s a fighter

11/12/2018 - 14:49 |
28 | 0

I agree. Neither driver acted in their interests. Ocon would have been better off staying behind Verstappen and possibly preying on anyone else Max laps. And Verstappen would have been better off not fighting as hard - he was ahead of Hamilton on newer softer tyres so it would have been an easy win anyway. Put it this way, Verstappen had everything to lose and Ocon had nothing to gain.

11/12/2018 - 16:05 |
2 | 0

Don’t forget who powers Force India and what was on the line.

11/12/2018 - 16:28 |
2 | 2

I have a conspiracy theory; Wolff has radio ordered Ocon in the past, so he probably ordered Ocon to crash into Max, to make sure Lewis got the win
 just saying


11/13/2018 - 04:30 |
2 | 2
DL🏁

Without entering the argument who’s right and who’s wrong - I’m just happy to see passion back in F1 especially after the titles have been decided

11/12/2018 - 10:31 |
24 | 2
TurboToddler (Straight-five)

I don’t watch F1, can somebody explain why people say it’s Ocon’s fault? To me it looks like he had the inside and Max turned into him

11/12/2018 - 10:53 |
2 | 2
Dhyanesh |Ă ÂźÂ€Ă ÂźÂŻĂ ÂźÂ©Ă ÂŻÂ‡Ă ÂźÂ·Ă ÂŻÂ| (R32 Gang) (

It is Ocon’s fault but that doesn’t mean Verstapen can push him, I mean there is a good number of young audience and he could’ve talked with Ocon, not just get aggressive with Checo, what he isn’t what I call sportsmanship and Verstapen has ruined many racers races and it about time he got one of his races ruined
 What a shame
. I am disappointed 😔😔

11/12/2018 - 11:05 |
6 | 2

I think the accident was handled fairly. It’s the shoving Ocon that disappointed me the most..

A true sportsman would stay calm and talk, instead of being physical for no reason
 He’s just being the petulant child that he is

11/12/2018 - 14:52 |
10 | 0
dmackster1124

I don’t agree with Verstappen’s reaction but I do think that Ocon should’ve thought about his actions a bit more before he attacked. It wouldn’t be as much of a big deal if that was a genuine battle for a top position but coming in two laps behind a pulling that seems kind of rushed or just not thought out

11/12/2018 - 12:56 |
8 | 0
Anonymous

This is why I don’t watch F1 the stewards are such nannies and the drivers are all babies. Verstappen has every right to annoyed with ocon and the stewards shouldn’t get in the way of the drivers showing some really emotion unlike most of the time where they are just robots.

11/12/2018 - 13:10 |
6 | 4
Anonymous

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

yeah, but if you allow for one, you are allowing for everyone below.
That means fights would be a common thing

11/12/2018 - 13:27 |
12 | 0
Anonymous

Something interesting happened in F1!

11/12/2018 - 13:41 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

If he was obviously faster, and he posed no threat to Max, why didn’t he just let him by in the corner? Did he just not know his position prior to that?

11/12/2018 - 15:47 |
2 | 0
UnknownCat13

Yet another reason why formula drift is better

11/12/2018 - 16:59 |
2 | 4

No

11/13/2018 - 03:35 |
0 | 0