zdave87

A 2

Very exciting race I thought until the moment that the VER and OCO incident happened. The regs say a backmarker can unlap himself and at that point OCO did have the advantage. Was it prudent on OCO's part to force the issue at Turn 2 and on the contrary what really did VER have to lose if he let OCO by?

I'm seeing a lot of discussion online about this and it appears that those that think VER is an entitled brat (which I think he is a bit of) seem to find fault with him, whereas the others see the fault with OCO. The way I see it, the rules allow OCO to overtake. Both drivers or at least one of them should have displayed superior sportsmanship and racecraft by being safe while racing and not caused the issue. One did not have anything to lose, seems to be the opinion while the other had the win to lose. I personally think both of them damaged their reputations and set a poor example.

That aside, congratulations to Lewis and Mercedes for the victory and the constructors championship. I was happy to see Kimi finish on the podium and I hope he continues the streak in Abu Dhabi. RIC had a good race too but the driver that made a big impression on me was Stoffel Vandoorne, with his strong drive to finish where he did and ahead of Fernando. Alas, he won't be at McLaren anymore and I think he deserves a chance.

Say Chi Sin Lo

I don't know if you caught at the end of the race, where the podium finishers chill in the cool down room, Max Versteppan and Lewis Hamilton had a brief discussion about that incident.

I think Lewis Hamilton agrees that Max Versteppan got screwed, but he also reminded Versteppan that at the point, he had more to lose.

sam_spider

I think Lewis had it right, Max had more to lose. Max drives with the mentality that everyone else should back off/down from him, and I believe this is the result of that. Ocon came up on him and passed him, instead of Max being an adult he battled with Ocon and didn't bother to check his mirrors before turning in.

Other drivers would've backed out and let the other car go by, Max didn't and paid the price.

Really wish Daniel had made it to the podium, so close!

The Raptor

eight

I'd have to side with Max completely on this debate. Never mind that a backmarker can unlap himself, of course he can. But WHY ON EARTH DO IT if you're in 14th. I could understand unlapping yourself if you're 8th. This wasn't aggressive Max being aggressive Max. Nobody being the race leader is going to expect someone in 14th to put up a fight. Not that they can't, but that they shouldn't. If you were to put any of the front running drivers in Max's position, they would've done the same thing. I cannot see how someone leading the race, would expect a driver not in points contention to be putting up a fight. YES you can unlap yourself. But if it was Stroll in Ocon's shoes, I'd imagine all of these conversations to be very different.

My honest conclusion is, Max did what any other driver would have done in this situation. Ocon, did something nobody else would do in this situation. Again, I can't see how this is even a little bit Max's fault. 100% Ocon in my book.

I also don't mind a little bit of pushing in the cool-off stage. These guys just finished racing, adrenaline is through the roof and this is their passion. Of course there should be consequences given out but I love it when the driver's are this passionate. Max brings excitement back to F1. A lot of greats have their times where they lose their cool and in much worse fashion. I want Max to keep being Max.

sam_spider

Max was told over the radio Ocon was quicker and may try to unlap himself, so he was aware. IMHO this is purely Max not wanting/allowing anyone to pass him under any circumstance. Ocon passed Max into turn one, Max could've quite easily backed off and let Ocon by, he didn't and that's the result. Whiting and the FIA are just too scared to penalize Max so he continues in the same manner, and will continue to until something bad happens.

Max agreed with the stewards about this, but when it's him getting the penalty the stewards are wrong.

eight

That's partially the point. Ocon passes him on turn 2 then what? Ocon had the pace for 1 lap, his out lap. Yes, he's going to be quicker. But then what? Max would've had DRS on the next straight and it's blue flags. Let's just say he wouldn't have had DRS. I give Ocon 2 laps then he would've been asked to move aside for Max then. 2 laps of Max driving in dirty air while Ham was 2 seconds behind Max. 2 seconds is not a lot especially for someone like Lewis and RBR didn't know Lewis had PU issues. Let's not forget what happens with traffic and backmarkers with Singapore this year and Lewis.

It's not new that Ocon and Max have issues with each other and it's very easy to assume that the hot head Max is instigating, I can understand that. But Ocon's pride wouldn't let him leave Max alone especially since Ocon has no seat in F1 next year. He wanted to take the fight that shouldn't have been there in the first place. I am not usually defending Max, I do think he thinks too much like a child at times but in this case, his lead on Lewis was not large enough to be able to afford allowing a backmarker to potentially hold him up. The fight for the race win was very much still alive with almost 20 laps remaining.

sam_spider

Watch this video (if you haven't already) as it is quite telling - https://www.formula1.com/en/video/20...pen_clash.html

The point is, Max was well aware Ocon was quicker than him and said over the radio the Force India was pushing him. Max then had to push a bit to keep Ocon behind, Ocon got closer and closer and eventually passed him, Max being Max fought him into to turn 2.

All I'm saying is, every other driver would've simply let Ocon go (as he'd already passed him) and be done with it. Max didn't, I would say ego is to blame here, and this is the result. Yes, Ocon made the move, but Max is who closed the door unnecessarily and didn't leave space.

eight

Ocon's race was over long ago. He wasn't getting into points. He quali'd like crap behind his teammate in 13th and hasn't gone better than 10th fastest all weekend. The Force India's were just weak this weekend. So hypothetically, let's say Ocon gets past max. There's no way you can say Ocon would stay ahead. Max had so much to lose if he had allowed Ocon by with Lewis being 2 seconds behind. And the way DRS works, if Ocon's pace kept up, he would be in DRS on the next straight.

Maybe you're right, maybe every other front ringer (on this current line-up) would allow a backmarker through and not risk anything, MAYBE. Then again, every other backmarker would not go wheel to wheel with the front ringer in the apex of a turn. Let's not forget why Schumi walked to Coulthards pit lane wanting to scrap, why Senna punched Eddie Irvine, or how physical Prost got with Senna. People honestly forget just how emotional driver's get, and it happens more with the greats than not.

You just don't fight the race leader if you aren't even in points contention, he wasn't even CLOSE to scoring points all weekend. It's horrible sportsmanship. Unfortunately, I feel that because this happened to Max, people aren't putting all blame on Ocon. But if this happened to Lewis or Vettel when they're race leader, Ocon would shoulder all the blame.

EDIT: What I feel like was going on was Ocon thought "I'm not in F1 next season anyways, **** it. I hate Max, I'm gonna mess with him now that I'm on fresh supers". Because honestly, they really hate each other.