Speaking after qualifying had finished, Ocon explained why he felt forced to overtake cars at the time. He said: “The difference between me and him [Verstappen] is that I have to do that lap because I had traffic in that first lap and if I don’t do the second one, I’m out.
“He has plenty of pace, so he can afford not to do his second lap. But we were not respecting the delta.
“So it couldn’t happen again. I had no choice, I had to go, so yeah, that was it. The difference between me and Max is he’s third, and I’m 17th.”
