Ocon warned 'irrational red mist' will end F1 career

Esteban Ocon has been warned that his "irrational red mist" will spark the end of his F1 career.

For the sixth time from his 141 grands prix, Ocon was involved in a collision with a team-mate after crashing into Alpine colleague Pierre Gasly on the opening lap of Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix.

The FIA stewards determined the audacious attempt at an overtake into Portier came from "too far back", handing Ocon a 10-second time penalty they converted into a five-place grid penalty for the next race in Canada given his retirement under the red-flag period due to severe damage sustained to the gearbox and suspension.

Alpine team boss Bruno Famin read the riot act to Ocon in the immediate aftermath, warning there would be "consequences" for his actions but later refusing to elaborate. The team stated the matter would be dealt with behind closed doors.

It has sparked speculation Ocon could be axed with immediate effect as it is understood a decision has been taken internally that his contract will not be renewed at the end of the season.

Addressing the furore, former F1 driver and Sky F1 co-commentator Martin Brundle, writing in his post-race column, said: "Ocon is a fine and fast racing driver.

"But history clearly demonstrates that he has an irrational red mist when it comes to racing, particularly against his team-mates.

"He has been heavily criticised before by Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso for his intra-team aggression and contact, and now Gasly too.

"It will cost Esteban heavily as no front-running team would entertain that kind of mentality, or even perhaps any team.

"A driver represents hundreds of hard-working and professional people, and hundreds of millions of pounds of investment and sponsorship when driving for an F1 team. You simply can't keep attacking your one team-mate with abandon."

'Hard racing simply caused a huge amount of damage'

The other major talking point from the opening lap was the carnage which emerged from the collision between Red Bull's Sergio Perez and Kevin Magnussen in his Haas, which also accounted for the latter's team-mate, Nico Hulkenberg.

The stewards ultimately determined no further action was required, sparing Magnussen the prospect of a race ban if he had been found guilty as he is currently two points away from that possibility after accruing 10 on his superlicence.

Brundle could see both sides of the argument from Perez and Magnussen. He added: "Far and away your best chance to overtake in Monaco is on the first lap, and I do feel for Magnussen in this respect.

"He's a hard racer and wanted past the Red Bull, but you have to play the percentages, especially when you're at the back and driving for the smallest team in F1. By keeping his foot in, there was a very high chance of contact in the next few hundred metres, and that played out.

"The accident literally reduced the Red Bull to a survival cell and scrap, and tagged Hulkenberg too, meaning both Haas cars were out on the spot. The final ignominy was those two cars making contact head-on to ensure pretty much everything was trashed.

"Nobody could have predicted that absolute outcome, and the stewards on investigation decided that nobody was predominantly to blame. Perez could have afforded more space and been more aware, and Magnussen should have realised he would need to lift off the throttle sooner rather than later.

"But rather like Magnussen's accident in Miami with Williams' Logan Sargeant, hard racing simply caused a huge amount of damage for lowly race positions, which throws away any chance of being around when the prizes are awarded at the end of the race."