Ocon Labeled An 'Embarrassment' By Villeneuve, Hamilton Says Verstappen Also At Fault

The Max Verstappen-Esteban Ocon incident at the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday is not something that will go away very soon with many current and former Formula 1 drivers airing their opinions after the Racing Point Force India driver denied the Dutchman a chance at victory. Former driver Jacques Villeneuve is the latest to slam Ocon for his actions.

The Red Bull Racing driver had put in one of his trademark drives, which saw him come from fifth on the grid and take the lead from Lewis Hamilton on the Lap 40, but disaster struck four laps later as Ocon, who had just completed his pit stop came out on a fresh set of super-soft tires.

The Frenchman was much faster than Verstappen, who was nursing his tires and not wanting to push too much with 27 laps remaining in the race. The Force India driver, who was a lap down, was keen to unlap himself and tried to pass the Red Bull car going into Turn 1.

Verstappen took the racing line into the first turn and then into Turn 2 and 3 – the Senna Esses. But Ocon was determined to get past the Dutchman and stuck to his outside line, which resulted in the two drivers making contact and spinning off the track.

The Red Bull car suffered severe floor damage, but most importantly, Verstappen lost the lead to Hamilton, who eventually went on to win the race. The Red Bull driver was incensed and let fly an expletive-laden rant on the radio.

He then confronted Ocon at parc ferme after the race and shoved him three times during the weigh-in. The former was handed a 10-second penalty during the race for the incident, while the latter was handed two days of community service for physically assaulting another driver.

Ocon maintained it was his right to try and unlap himself and blamed Verstappen for not leaving enough space, but Villeneuve labeled him an “embarrassment”.

“Ocon is an embarrassment. That was ridiculous,” Villeneuve said, as quoted on Planet F1. “And the worst bit is everyone has seen what happened, and on the radio, not even a ‘sorry guys, I was wrong.’ It’s good to accept you’re wrong.”

“You can unlap yourself, but do it properly. You’re not allowed to put the leader at risk at all. You don’t do something that loses time for the other driver and is taking a risk. Overtaking on the straight and you’re in front is fine. But that looked like it was a battle for the lead,” the Canadian added.

Recently crowned five-time world champion Hamilton, who was the beneficiary of the crash, did not share such a stark opinion of the incident. He believes both the drivers are at fault for the collision and said it was 60-40 with Ocon taking the bigger blame.

The British racer, who has throughout the season taken minimal risk, believes the leader has more to lose in trying to battle a backmarker and has to take a safety-first approach and leave more space than needed.

“I'm pretty sure there's no rule that says you can't unlap yourself," Hamilton said, according to Sky Sports. "I've done it before. Ultimately when you're in Ocon's position, you've got nothing to lose.”

“I felt like it was fair game to try and unlap himself. Of course you don't want to cause an incident but in those scenarios, you give each other space. It's as simple as that. It's so simple to give each other space. You can never assume that the person's not up your inside because he's a backmarker and he's going to back off. You've got to acknowledge the fact that he may be there so leave extra space because actually, he's in a different race to me," he said.

"So from my seat it felt like it wasn't 100 per cent one side, more like maybe 60-40. But I've only seen a quick replay,” the Mercedes driver explained.

However, Ocon and Verstappen seemed to have buried the hatchet once the emotions had tempered down as they were both seen shaking hands walking down the pit lane on their way back from the stewards.