13/11/2018
NEWS STORY
Max Verstappen has said that it was the attitude of Esteban Ocon following Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix that led to the infamous shoving incident which in turn led to the Dutch driver being ordered to do two days of public service having made "deliberate physical contact" with the Frenchman.
Asked if he regretted the altercation in the FIA weigh bridge garage, Verstappen told Dutch TV channel Ziggo Sport: "It is always easy to talk afterwards.
"I just wanted to look for him and ask 'what was going on, how could something like this happen?'," he continued.
"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 apologize for what happened and reacts exactly the other way around."
Asked if Sunday was a 'hangover' from their numerous F3 clashes in 2014, the Dutch younger insisted: "No, and he's actually no competitor at all in Formula 1. I just focus on the people I have to focus on, and try to beat drivers who have good material as well."
Of course, the fact is that Verstappen admits that he deliberately sought out Ocon in order to get an explanation. And "smile" or no "smile", the youngster was not entitled to get physical. And let's not forget, only days earlier he had admitted that in the aftermath of missing out on pole in Mexico to his own teammate: "I was literally pissed off, I wouldn't even say it, but I could literally do some damage to someone if somebody would say something wrong to me after qualifying, that's how angry I was."
At the same time, it's worth noting that on-board footage from Ocon's car reveals just how much speed the Force India driver was carrying into T1.
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