Red Bull F1 saw their 2 drivers finish in the top 4 of the Brazilian Grand Prix, but Max Verstappen was left furious after a collision with Esteban Ocon when leading.

The collision on lap 44 between race leader Verstappen and backmarker Ocon saw both cars spin. While both continued, Lewis Hamilton was able to take the lead and hold off a late challenge from the damaged Red Bull to take the win.

Verstappen was also later punished by the FIA for shoving Ocon at the post-race driver weight-in and threatening to push the French driver. The FIA have instructed the Dutch driver will have to take 2 days of public service.

The Dutch driver variously called Ocon an “idiot” among other insults over team radio during the race. Until then, things had gone well, with Verstappen quickly able to overtake both Ferraris and the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas, and also able to make a move on Hamilton following the pit-stops a few laps before the race-defining incident.

Speaking afterwards, Verstappen praised the team for their work but admitted his disappointment not to leave Interlagos with back-to-back wins after winning the previous race in Mexico.

“The car felt amazing all race, even with a damaged floor towards the end. The set-up, balance and strategy were perfect today. To be this competitive at a track we didn’t expect to be is really positive, and makes me look forward to Abu Dhabi. We have come away with a P2, which should have been a win. This shows we were performing really well, beyond expectations.

“It is a real shame we didn’t come away with the win due to the incident with Ocon. Of course a backmarker can un-lap himself but he took an unnecessary amount of risk, especially against the race leader. They gave him the penalty for causing a collision so I think that says enough. At the end of the day I am a passionate sportsman that wants to win, this situation is frustrating and shows emotion when competing at the highest level.”

For his part, Ricciardo recovered well after the Australian was handed a 5 place grid penalty following the race in Mexico. Ricciardo was able to move up the order, and after Verstappen’s incidents, was able to make moves to go ahead of both Sebastian Vettel and Bottas. He was also close to catching Kimi Raikkonen, but narrowly missed out on a first podium since winning in Monaco.

He said, “I’m happy with my race, I’m happy with all the Team’s efforts but still a bit disappointed to just miss out on the podium. I caught Kimi and could see the podium but unfortunately it just wasn’t quite enough. The strategy was spot on once again so we can’t fault ourselves at all.

“I had fun and some great battles, especially my pass on Bottas. I told the team on the radio I was going for it and I made it stick. The battle with Seb was cool, I think we maybe touched once or twice, but I’ve always respected him and the way he races.

“It’s frustrating because every time we have a penalty we seem to have a fast car, if we started closer to the front I’m confident we could have had a really good result. It’s bitter sweet I guess, we did well but if we had started where I qualified we could have done better, you can’t ask for much starting start from 11th.”