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Furious Max Verstappen in ugly shoving match after losing Brazilian GP lead

Verstappen had already lapped Ocon when the collision occurred.

Verstappen had already lapped Ocon when the collision occurred. Photo: Getty

Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton snatched victory at the Brazilian Grand Prix after a crash that robbed Max Verstappen of the lead and saw the Red Bull driver involved in an ugly off-track altercation.

Verstappen was in the lead and on course for a superb win when a collision with backmarker Esteban Ocon pitched him it into a spin.

The Dutchman dropped back to second place and was unable to catch  Hamilton in the closing laps.

Verstappen remonstrated with Ocon in the driver weighing area afterwards and pushed the Frenchman three times as he expressed his anger at incident.

“You do everything well, you go through the field, we had a great car and then by such an idiot you get taken out while he’s being lapped. I have no words,” Verstappen said later.

The win was 2018 champion Hamilton’s 10th of the season and 72nd of his career and helped Mercedes seal the constructors’ title.

Verstappen finished second, still seething, while Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen took third and Australian Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo was fourth.

“That’s it. That’s the double, mate. MercedesAMG are the world champs,” Hamilton was told as he took the chequered flag at Interlagos after a race fraught with concerns about his tyres and engine.

“It’s been an incredible journey with them. This is what everyone worked for, for the whole year,” said the ecstatic 33-year-old as the celebrations started with one race to go.

Only Ferrari have previously managed to win five championships in a row, taking six in succession during the Michael Schumacher era from 1999 to 2004.

Verstappen, winner in Mexico two weeks ago, stepped up next to him on the podium but knew it should have been the top step. 

The collision was the talking point of the day, with arguments on both sides and angry scenes in the paddock afterwards.

Ocon was handed a 10-second stop-and-go penalty for causing the collision, while Verstappen was hit with two days of public service determined by the FIA.  

-with AAP

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