F1 Teammates Were Banned From Racing Each Other After Bitter Feud

Two Formula 1 teammates were banned from racing each other on track after a bitter feud escalated.

Although F1 is primarily a team sport, all the drivers have one main goal: to win, and they often will do anything to achieve their main objective.

As a result, we have seen some dramatic inter-team battles over the years.

For example, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso did not see eye-to-eye when they drove for McLaren. Hamilton was then involved in a tense battle with long-time friend Nico Rosberg at Mercedes.

Meanwhile, Sebastien Vettel and Mark Webber often disagreed at Red Bull, and there was also a feud between the legendary McLaren duo of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost.

Perhaps less glamorous and well-known than the above-mentioned pairs, Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez clashed on multiple occasions during their time with Force India, who later became Racing Point.

Things got heated between the pair as they were eager to show they belonged in the sport of F1.

During the 2017 Belgian Grand Prix, Ocon and Perez collided on the high-speed approach to Eau Rouge, which forced the Mexican to retire from the race, costing the team valuable points.

In the following season, the pair continued to go at it, and after several more incidents, they were told that they could no longer race each other on track.

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Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez were teammates at Force India. Image: Getty

At the time, Force India COO Otmar Szafnauer said: "In the future, they’ll never have that opportunity [to race] again. We let them race up till now and if they can’t do that in a manner that is good for the team, then they won’t be racing anymore.

"They shouldn’t be coming together. We’ve given them the latitude to race and I’ve always said that, but we told them if a Baku-type incident happens again we’ll be calling races from the pit wall in the future. Once it gets to the point of safety margins and crashing into each other then we’ve got to take it into our hands."

Ahead of the 2019 campaign, Ocon was replaced by Lance Stroll, who became Perez's new teammate.

During the 2020 season, Perez recorded his maiden F1 victory after winning the Sakhir Grand Prix ahead of Ocon, who was driving for Renault.

Ocon had to wait an extra year for his first-ever F1 Grand Prix victory, which came at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix, where he finished ahead of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz.

The Frenchman is currently driving for Haas, with Perez making a return to the sport in 2026 with newcomers Cadillac.