Formula 1 star Esteban Ocon has revealed he once ‘collapsed in the shower’ after an especially violent crash.
The Haas driver has been racing in F1 since 2016, claiming a memorable victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix four years ago.
He’s also had his fair share of shunts over the years, most notably when he collided with Max Verstappen in Brazil in 2018, which lead to a bust-up in the pit-lane with the four-time world champion.
But Ocon has now opened up on his most painful crash, one that continued to affect him after he got out of the car.
It occurred during practice for the inaugural Miami Grand Prix when the Frenchman, then driving for Alpine, went backwards into a concrete barrier, bringing out the red flag.
Footage from the time shows that Ocon two several minutes to climb out of the cockpit following the heavy shunt, but he has now revealed it was even more painful than it looked.
‘I’ve had some big crashes,’ the 29-year-old told French YouTube channel Legend.
‘Touch wood, those crashes have never been too violent, despite some of them exceeding 40G and nearly knocking me out. Sometimes my eyesight got blurry, or I had a headache for three, four days…
‘I took 42G – for people who want to see that crash, it’s not that impressive, but I hit a concrete wall. That was in Miami, in FP3, in 2022.
‘I went off, I hit the wall. I hit both my knees and could barely walk afterwards.
‘I remember, the next morning I was in the shower and I collapsed. I lost my balance and fell, I was not well at all.
‘I managed, starting from last, to finish eighth in that race. I was peeing red, that was not great!’
Thankfully, Ocon recovered, with 2022 going on to be his best year in F1 to date, finishing eighth in the drivers’ championship.
Following last weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix, Ocon sits 15th in the table, with Haas second-last in the constructors’ championship which has been won by McLaren.
In 2025, the title fight has been between McLaren’s drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, though some believe Verstappen should still be considered a contender.
The Red Bull star is 63 points behind leader Piastri with just six grand prix left, but has been picking up great results recently and Ocon says his old rival cannot be ruled out.
He said: ‘We all know Max and how dangerous he is when there’s something to grab. So there’s a good chance that if he’s got a competitive car until the end of the year, he can catch back.’
The F1 season continues with the United States Grand Prix on October 19.
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