Esteban Ocon has revealed he received death threats on social media in response to collisions between him and his team mate this year.
Ocon and Sergio Perez have had a tempestuous partnership in their first year as team mates. Tempers began to run high between the pair after the Canadian Grand Prix, where Perez refused a request from the team to allow Ocon to pass him.
They then collided with each other in Canada, Hungary and Belgium. Following the latter clash between the pair Force India refused to allow them to continue racing each other for position. In the last two races Perez has been refused permission to overtake Ocon.
Today in Mexico Ocon revealed he has revealed death threat from Perez’s fans, examples of which can still be found on social media:
Speaking in today’s FIA press conference ahead of his home race this weekend Perez said he didn’t believe his supporters will give his team mate any trouble.
“I don’t think the fans will be bad to Esteban,” said Perez. “Obviously they will support me a lot here but I see no reason why they should be bad to him. Every event we’ve done so far they have been very good to him, not only to him but to everyone else.”
“And the end of the day this is just a sport, this is how it should be.”
According to Perez the pair’s relationship has improved since they held private talks to clear the air after their clash at Spa.
“I think we obviously had a bad relationship since Baku,” said Perez. “And then especially we hit a very low point in Belgium.”
“But afterwards we had a good conversation between us, no one was involved within the team. And I think since that point everything has changed in the atmosphere, not only between us also the engineers and everyone.”
“It’s really good and having both sides work together has made a big difference. And especially going into next year it’s very important because it’s a massive and we have to work together for the benefit of the team. It’s very important that in the team both drivers are united. Obviously you want to beat each other but it’s important to have that respect and I think that respect is in place now and the atmosphere is good.”
The team’s ban on letting the pair race each other may soon be lifted as Force India are likely to become uncatchable by their closest rivals this weekend. Perez said he “hasn’t heard” for sure what the arrangement will be for this race. “But probably we should be able to race,” he said.
NB. The material shown above has been reported to the relevant social media networks.
Mustavo Gaia
26th October 2017, 22:56
is there any indication that the authors are older than 11 yo?
Mustavo Gaia
26th October 2017, 22:56
*were
Baron (@baron)
27th October 2017, 16:27
You know them?
Matt
27th October 2017, 20:18
Right, there is nothing to see here, nobody is going to kill or try to kill icon. It’s just some stupid kids on Twitter.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
27th October 2017, 23:13
If they are not, then they’ve breached Terms of Service, assuming the “look and feel” is of the social service I think they’re from (it looks like Twitter, which bans under-13s from using the service).
Aldoid
26th October 2017, 22:56
Wow… this is a new (!?) low…
drrapg (@drrapg)
26th October 2017, 23:20
I feel ashamed for what my countrymen had expressed… unfortunately there’s still is a lot to do in terms of education and development, hopefully this weekend will show all the positives and none of the negatives of Mexico.
Josh (@canadianjosh)
27th October 2017, 12:44
Your country is a joke and you know it, my dad was in Cancun this year and convoys of dudes with the letter Z painted on their trucks were robbing and beating business owners up in the tourist district, oh ya, cops blocked the roads to let it happen.
Broke84 (@broke84)
27th October 2017, 13:15
That’s pretty low man! Mexico has problems but I wouldn’t call Mexico a joke and incidently if you said that to @drrapg he’d probably lamp you, Mexicans are very proud. Every Mexican I have ever known are brilliant people and my wife lived there for a year and has nothing but great things to say about them!
drrapg (@drrapg)
27th October 2017, 16:52
Thanks for your kind words @broke84
Broke84 (@broke84)
27th October 2017, 23:22
De nada tio, El pais no importante, vivimos bajo el mismo cielo.
Broke84 (@broke84)
27th October 2017, 23:31
And incidently my wife is french, so hopefully I’m showing that Josh’s comments are nonsene in the Perez, Ocon argument.
petebaldwin (@)
27th October 2017, 13:46
If you judge a whole country and it’s people based on one incident carried out by a handful of people, then is it fair to say that the whole of Canada has shocking grammar?
ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
27th October 2017, 16:01
The disgraceful ignorance of @canadianjosh should not be taken as indicative of Canadian norms. Unfortunately, his shocking grammar really is prevalent here.
drrapg (@drrapg)
27th October 2017, 14:59
Josh, you my friend are a joke with comments like this, I’m not even gonna insult you because you’re not worth it. Just remember that this Mexican has shown more class and culture than you.
Josh (@canadianjosh)
27th October 2017, 20:05
Having relatives living in Tamaulipas alone gives me the right to judge Mexico and you know it.
ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
27th October 2017, 21:33
Josh, please stop. You are embarrassing yourself.
Broke84 (@broke84)
27th October 2017, 23:26
Dude, I live in a rural region of the UK where the majority are racist, Brexit loving nutters, but that is not indicative of the entire country, don’t make sweeping generalisations.
Biggsy
27th October 2017, 19:11
Congrats, Josh! You win the bigot of the day award.
Kevin
27th October 2017, 22:26
Oh here we go. We had to go 2017 on this. Can’t have an opinion without being accused of something. I have to say the events he portrayed would make someone feel the way he has. He shouldn’t have categorized an entire country’s based on actions of just a certain area, but lets not be blind and sweep actual problems faced within Mexico under the rug. There are entire corrupt police departments in Mexico associated with smuggling or drug trade. We all know Brazil had terrible problems with the Olympics and people of Rio got the short end of the stick and still are for the games, but the media tried their best to hide obvious problems during those 2 weeks of the games. There are serious problems going on that nobody wants to address and when someone does, they are accused of being a bigot or something else. 1) Educate yourself. 2) Don’t judge an entire nation of people based on a group residing within. This is as educated a response as you’ll get in 2017 and beyond.
Josh (@canadianjosh)
29th October 2017, 1:47
Kevin…..someone with some knowledge finally
David Cantu (@bugsracer)
26th October 2017, 23:42
I agree that this kind of behavior is unacceptable and intolerable, those two persons not represent the Mexican Fans at all. But bring this to the table during the press conference of Mexico Grand Prix was wrong, is not the right time to do it. I wish someone in the team provide better guidance to him of how to respond to the media and the fans.
Aldoid
27th October 2017, 1:41
I thought it was the perfect time for him to do it: press conference in Mexico, Mexican GP this weekend, Mexican fans making death threats. When would have been a better time? I’d talk about it every single time a microphone was put in front of me until I left Mexico (just in case any of those crazies were serious… maybe the bad press might force the Mexican authorities to investigate them & decent, law abiding Mexican F1 fans to condemn them). Today’s world is way too crazy. People getting all bent out of shape over sports & entertainment to the point of threatening someone’s life.
Gary
27th October 2017, 8:28
Yes, it would have made far more sense for Esteban to discuss the death threats from Mexican “fans” in Belgium.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
27th October 2017, 23:18
It was a good time to do it. By getting the matter mentioned and out of the way before the weekend starts, it hopefully discourages anyone from making similar threats (or worse, though I doubt anyone ever planned to action such sentiments) at the track itself. It also puts those on social media on notice that their unacceptable conduct has been noted. Some won’t like it, but waiting to potentially be forced to mention it mid-weekend due to events – or waiting until the season ended before saying anything – would have caused more harm.
racerdude7730 (@racerdude7730)
27th October 2017, 3:16
I know every country has their crazy’s and this is inexcusable in every way but Mexico really has a violence problem. Personally I’d never goto Mexico City. Some of the city’s and towns are like open warfare. Crazy stuff but Mexico is beautiful been to many places. I’m sure nothing will happen but it’s gotta make Ocon feel really weird walking around. I’d invest in a bulletproof vest
pastaman (@)
27th October 2017, 13:13
Yet almost 9 million people seem to live there every day without getting shot. Every major metropolitan city has gang violence, just don’t visit the bad parts.
squyks
27th October 2017, 15:33
Mexico City is lovely, with pleasant people and excellent food, interesting architecture. I’ve gone there on business twice for a week, and hope for future opportunities to go. I’m a reasonably attractive, early 30s woman and have had no problem walking around. Do I go to the worst parts? No. But I also don’t do that where I live. Uber is so cheap ($9 for the 30 min ride to the airport?!), there’s no reason to think twice. Let’s all try to be a little less close-minded…
MacLeod (@macleod)
27th October 2017, 8:09
May Perez should made an comment that they both talked it out! otherwise we could have an drama which none wants.
JettC
27th October 2017, 9:05
Perez’s observation on this is way too tame, he doesnt even condemn the tweets. Checo is running scared of Ocon.
Pyon (@pyon)
27th October 2017, 10:51
Indeed, weird reaction.
F1 in Figures (@f1infigures)
27th October 2017, 9:45
This is really terrible. Those “fans” should calm down. Ocon cannot even be blamed for most clashes with Pérez.
socksolid (@socksolid)
27th October 2017, 12:40
I don’t feel right giving these people the attention. I’d blur their names.
Dave
27th October 2017, 14:57
Get these tweets off my page.
ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
27th October 2017, 16:23
Sergio should publicly condemn these threats against Estaban in the strongest terms, just as Max and Jos should concerning the death treats against Salo. It is ridiculous that it has come to this, but somehow it has. F1 fanaticism has been taken way too far.
Baron (@baron)
27th October 2017, 16:37
Whether it’s by juveniles or not, crazy people or not, fans or not. It doesn’t matter, it’s been said and it leaves a lasting impression believe me. I have received anonymous death threats on my phone following a violent criminal assault with a handgun, and I have never ever forgotten it. So even if it’s posted by some dumb kids it leaves an indelible impression, I don’t care how ‘hard’ you are. I do question the enhanced publicity though as there are many dubious people lurking in the undergrowth who might just take this kind of thing seriously…