F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Ocon lashes out at Raikkonen for opening lap clash!

Where most may have seen a simple racing incident, Force India's Esteban Ocon saw only one man responsible for his demise on the opening lap of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Ocon and Raikkonen were barrelling down to Turn 3 after the start when the Ferrari driver made an attempt to pass the Force India on the inside of the corner.

The two made contact, with Ocon pitched into a slide and coming to rest against the outside wall while the Ferrari was able to continue its race.

There were no doubts in the Frenchman's mind about who had been ultimately responsible for the clash.

"Clearly I had a great start, really good, I managed to overtake him in turn 2, I was ahead of him on the straight. I was completely ahead, he was behind," Ocon told French broadcaster Canal +.

"I don't know what he did, he released the brakes and hit me."

A frustrated and obviously disappointed Ocon saw a big opportunity for points being blown away. The 21-year-old also believed that the perpetrator of his demise -as a Ferrari driver - should have been racing further up the field

"It's clearly a missed opportunity after a great start to the weekend. I think Perez is going to score a lot of points, it's good for the team.

"What do we want to tell Kimi? He doesn't talk. He's not in the position he should be with a Ferrari.

"He made a mistake yesterday, he made another one today."

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Michael Delaney

Recent Posts

Hakkinen reveals the Schumacher edge that ‘really pissed me off’

Mika Hakkinen and Michael Schumacher — two titans of Formula 1 whose duels in the…

30 mins ago

‘It’s all nonsense’: Former F1 insider slams Perez's Red Bull claims

The checkered flag may have dropped on Sergio Perez’s Red Bull career, but the verbal…

2 hours ago

Andretti fires successful opening salvo in Argentina

On this day in 1978, Mario Andretti kicked off his banner championship winning year with…

3 hours ago

Not a one-off: Hill sees multiple world titles for Norris

Damon Hill knows a thing or two about what it takes to climb Formula 1’s…

4 hours ago

Domenicali calls for calm and a plan as Ferrari eyes 2026 reset

Formula 1’s most polished powerbroker has seen this movie before – and Stefano Domenicali is…

5 hours ago

Verstappen puts Bathurst 1000 Supercar event on bucket list

Max Verstappen’s racing curiosity has never been confined to Formula 1 – and now, one…

7 hours ago