Max Verstappen shares a smile with Esteban Ocon (Getty)
The 2020 F1 season is just around the corner and it seems to have thawed the relationship between Max Verstappen and Esteban Ocon.
The pair had a huge crash at the 2018 Brazilian Grand Prix where Ocon was trying to unlap himself with Verstappen leading the race.
Photos from the first day of pre-season testing ahead of the 2020 season see the pair shaking hands. Verstappen is also seen smiling and it seems that they have put this incident behind them.
The Dutchman was right to be angry at the time but opinions were split on who was responsible for the clash.
Ocon, then driving for Force India/Racing Point, had the softer tyres and crashed into Verstappen in the first corner. The pair had a scuffle after the race too with the Dutchman livid for a long time.
There was also a bit of a shoving match from Verstappen at the end of the race. Ocon’s season with the team also ended shortly as he was without a seat last year.
However, the Frenchman is back with Renault and it seems that he has patched up with Verstappen.
Some claimed that Verstappen should have let Ocon go as the Frenchman was in a faster car. Others suggested that Ocon should have tried to make the move later on as anything could have happened in the corners.
The Red Bull star finished the first day of 2020 testing in fourth place. He was, surprisingly, behind the Racing Point of Sergio Perez.
The Mercedes pair were out in front and Lewis Hamilton was three-tenths quicker than his teammate.
Verstappen, however, had the most laps on the first day with 168 under his belt. Ocon, for his part, put in 62 laps as he finished the day in eighth place.
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