Max Verstappen Forced To Do 'Public Service' After Post-Race Shove
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 weekendâs 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 Verstappenâs Red Bull in an attempt to unlap himself. Thatâs not against the rules, but the Dutchman clearly wasnât 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 wasnât 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 âpublic serviceâ as penance. In a statement, the FIA said:
âThe 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 âtriggeredâ and caused him to lose his temper.
âWhile sympathetic to Verstappenâs 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.
âThe 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.â
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was quick to defend his driver. âI think Max has been pretty restrained. Itâs cost him a Grand Prix victory,â he told Sky Sports F1, adding, âEsteban was lucky to get away with a push, to be honest with youâ. Ouch.
Ocon branded Verstappenâs behaviour as âViolent and unprofessional,â while the latter claimed Esteban âwas being a pussyâ. Things seemed to have calmed down between the drivers since those comments - they were later seen shaking hands in the paddock.
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
That was after the god damn race, let them sort their stuff out.
Ocon messed up Verstappenâs race, in my opinion, that was unacceptable.
Not gonna lie vettel got scammed on his money penalty