Verstappen felt 'provoked' by Ocon in parc fermé

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Max Verstappen feels that he was provoked into a physical altercation with Force India's Esteban Ocon following their clash in the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The Dutch driver hunted down Ocon in parc fermé after the race, but says he had just wanted to talk and had not intended to lash out at his rival.

“I just wanted to look for him and ask ‘What was going on? How could something like this happen?'" he explained on Monday evening's Peptalk show on Dutch TV channel Ziggo Sport.

“But he immediately answered ‘I was faster than you’ and said it with such a smile on his face," Verstappen continued.

"I wanted to be positive for my mechanics, but then you see someone like that who does not even apologise for what happened, and reacts exactly the other way around."

Max 'still not able to control his emotions', says Brawn

Following some pushing and shoving, Verstappen was ordered by the FIA to carry out two days of public service for the scuffle at the FIA Weigh Bridge Garage.

Ocon had earlier been given a ten-second stop-and-go-penalty for causing the lap 44 collision that cost Verstappen the lead of the race.

Verstappen was asked whether he thought there was more to the incident than a simple error in judgement by Ocon as he tried to unlap himself, such as a plan to win favour with Mercedes or as retribution for prior battles between the pair in junior formulae.

“No, and he's actually no competitor at all in Formula 1," he responded. "I just focus on the people I have to focus on, and try to beat drivers who have good material as well.”

"You do not expect to be hit by a laggard. I'm glad my dad wasn't there!" said the 21-year-old.

Although he's been criticised for not being able to control his emotions in stressful situations, Verstappen insisted that he wasn't about to turn to sports psychologists for help.

"If they come to me with a psychologist, I'll kick them out right away!" he laughed.

"You have to stand firmly in your own shoes. I don't need anyone. My father is a bit like a psychologist anyway."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.