Ocon escapes with warning after forcing Norris off

Henry Valantine
Esteban Ocon drives in FP1 at Zandvoort.

Esteban Ocon drives his Alpine around Zandvoort in practice for the Dutch GP.

Esteban Ocon has been handed a warning after forcing Lando Norris off track in the first free practice session at Zandvoort on Friday.

The McLaren driver was on a flying lap and heading up to the final two corners, while Ocon was on a cooldown lap.

The Frenchman seemingly appeared to try and get out of the way of a Red Bull behind him, but misjudged which way the fast Norris tried to get past – leading the Brit to take to the grass to avoid damaging his car.

“What’s this guy doing? He just pushed me off the track,” was the withering assessment of Norris over team radio, but he managed to keep his car going after grazing the grass run-off.

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The statement from the FIA read: “The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 31 (Esteban Ocon), the driver of Car 4 (Lando Norris), team representatives and reviewed video evidence.

“The evidence showed that the driver of Car 31 made a manoeuvre which resulted in Car 4 going beyond the edge of the track.

“The Stewards issued a warning in this instance, taking into account the circumstances and the explanations offered by both drivers.”

In an interrupted FP1 session, Ocon ranked seventh-fastest, while Norris was down in P11.