Breaking news
Formula 1 Brazilian GP
Hamilton questions Verstappen mindset in Ocon "racing incident"
Brazilian Grand Prix winner Lewis Hamilton says he would have taken a different approach to Max Verstappen in the incident with Esteban Ocon that cost the Red Bull driver victory.
Glenn Freeman
Edited: Nov 11, 2018, 8:08 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Verstappen was leading the race from Hamilton and seemingly in control when Ocon attempted to unlap himself at the first sequence of corners, initially attacking on the outside into Turn 1, before trying to hold on for the inside at the next corner and hitting the Red Bull.
The contact spun Verstappen down to second, behind Hamilton, and gave his car significant floor damage that prevented him from being able to challenge the Mercedes, which had its engine turned down due to reliability concerns.
Verstappen was furious after the race, calling Ocon an “idiot” and confronting him in a brief shoving match in parc ferme, but Hamilton felt the Dutchman could have handled it differently.
“I saw it happen,” said Hamilton. “It wasn’t something that… I wasn’t surprised by it.
“I saw them racing but they were not racing for the same position. I would have been in a different frame of mind.
“Fortunately he was able to keep going, no-one got hurt and it was a racing incident, I guess.
“Max is that go-getter guy and every now and again it bites you. But I am really, really proud [to win], I don’t care about anybody else.”
Follow our post-race liveblog:
Ocon was given a 10-second stop-go penalty for the clash, despite protestations from his Force India team that Verstappen was the one at fault.
When Hamilton joined Verstappen in the drivers’ room before the podium ceremony, he told him that Ocon “is allowed to unlap himself”.
While Verstappen agreed, before adding “but you can’t crash”, Hamilton also said: “You had more to lose than he did. He had nothing to lose.”
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Brazilian GP: Hamilton wins after Ocon spins Verstappen
Next article Ocon hits out at "not professional" Verstappen after shoving
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Glenn Freeman
F1 2019 game to allow official driver transfers
Esports
Esports
F1 2019 game to allow official driver transfers
Albon keeps Toro Rosso on top in morning of Day 4
Formula 1
Formula 1
Barcelona February testing
Albon keeps Toro Rosso on top in morning of Day 4
Raikkonen fastest for Alfa on third morning of F1 test
Formula 1
Formula 1
Barcelona February testing
Raikkonen fastest for Alfa on third morning of F1 test
Latest news
NASCAR explains why they penalized Zane Smith after latest clash with Carson Hocevar
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
3 h
NASCAR explains why they penalized Zane Smith after latest clash with Carson Hocevar
Porsche boss Laudenbach says he is "not happy" with how things were handled by IMSA in 2026
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 4 h
Porsche boss Laudenbach says he is "not happy" with how things were handled by IMSA in 2026
Five things to watch out for at the F1 United States GP
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
4 h
Five things to watch out for at the F1 United States GP
KTM sees MotoGP 2027 as a fresh start: “We never had the chance to build a new bike”
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP 5 h
KTM sees MotoGP 2027 as a fresh start: “We never had the chance to build a new bike”
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe