Esteban Ocon dismisses bizarre injury speculation: 'A bit of an insult!'

Esteban Ocon has laughed off speculation that he was using crutches during the Barcelona shakedown event last week.

Haas got its F1 season up and running in Spain as the team enjoyed a successful test outing, tallying the third-highest lap count of any squad.

Ocon and team-mate Oliver Bearman shared driving duties during the event, but at one stage, Ocon was seen watching from the grandstands as the cars hit the track.

After images surfaced, rumours emerged that Ocon had picked up an injury and was using crutches, but had nonetheless been cleared to drive.

However, the Frenchman clarified that it was his father who was using the crutches after a recent surgery.

“People were saying I was driving with crutches,” Ocon told media including RacingNews365. “That's awesome, I don't know if you have seen that.

“But my dad had surgery on his knee and we were looking at the braking points, how the cars were behaving, and how the flap was closing on the front wing in Turn 10. 

“And then there was a huge story that came out where people were saying that I had the knee surgery - but that I was okay and cleared by the medical team to drive. 

“How on earth would I be able to drive an F1 car if I was on crutches?

“I feel like that was a little bit of an insult because you can't drive an F1 car if you're injured, that's for sure.”

Ocon used the opportunity at testing to get an alternative view of this year's cars, which have been built under a new set of technical regulations.

Describing what he learned from the experience, Ocon said: “It was pretty interesting to watch from the sideline, because you could see the different lines and how people were using the engines on the exit of Turn 10.

“It's a very sensible, very important point of the track as well, because from 10 to 12, there were different strategies used by different manufacturers and that was quite interesting.

“Testing is made for that. That's the only time when I'm going to see the car running from the outside.”