One year on, Verstappen says Ocon incident was ‘karma’ for father Jos’s misdemeanour

12 months ago, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was looking good for the win in Brazil, only to tangle with then Racing Point driver Esteban Ocon while lapping the Frenchman. A post-race pushing match, war of words and some ‘community service’ followed, but a year on, Verstappen says there’s no lingering anger over the episode – and has even pointed the finger of blame cheekily at his father Jos…

“Honestly, I can laugh about it now,” the Dutchman said. “It happened. I think it was karma from my Dad back in the day. Now I’ve got it back.”

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The ‘karma’ Verstappen refers to relates to an incident in the 2001 Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos when his father Jos infamously punted Juan Pablo Montoya out of the race when the Colombian was odds on for victory.

“My dad took out the leader when he got lapped, so it was karma,” smiled Verstappen, in an interview with Sky Sports F1. “It had to happen to me.” Who knows, with karma now played out, perhaps this will be Verstappen’s year.

The Dutchman starts on pole position for today’s Grand Prix in Sao Paulo, and has his eyes firmly set on going one better than last year’s second place…