Esteban Ocon has revealed the biggest fear he had during the “pretty scary” pit-lane incident at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Having started the race from the pits, the Alpine driver ran ninth after the early Safety Car and completed 50 laps on a set of hard tyres hoping for another late intervention.
Without one coming, Ocon had to stop at the start of his final lap to meet the regulations, but was forced to take avoiding action from a crowd of media and other personnel gathering around Parc Ferme just after the pit entry as leader Sergio Perez neared the finish line.
The onboard footage from Esteban Ocon’s near miss in the pitlane ? pic.twitter.com/OqyKq79nFj
— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) April 30, 2023
“It was definitely scary,” he told Sky Sports. “I don’t know why everyone was starting to prep the podium, we were still racing and there was all the time in the world to be doing so.
“It could have been a big, big issue for everyone there. I’m arriving at more than 300kph, leaving my braking as late as I can and they were just after the line as well so if I miss my braking point…
“I had to brake, I had to avoid and it was pretty scary. Luckily it was all good. I had no idea that they were there. I’ve never seen that before.”
The stewards quickly launched an investigation into the matter and noted it was “not unusual” for Parc Ferme preparations to begin in the closing laps of a race, including the permission of media and other people into the area.
“However, in this case, there was one driver that had to pit in the last lap and this created a very dangerous situation for those that were in the pit lane at the time,” their statement continued.
that should NOT be happening ? pic.twitter.com/UUMkZUJYRy
— WTF1 (@wtf1official) April 30, 2023
“We considered that it was fortunate that there were no serious consequences on account of what happened today.
“We stressed that the requirements of ensuring a safe and orderly event are paramount. This was acknowledged by the FIA team.
“We walked through the relevant procedures and protocol with the FIA representatives in detail and required them to take immediate steps to reconsider these procedures and protocols with the relevant stakeholders (including FOM, the teams and the FIA) to ensure that this situation does not occur again.
“The FIA representatives expressed their regret at what happened and assured us that they would do so in time for the next event.”
Drivers pitting late on has become a more common occurrance in recent years, particularly when chasing the fastest lap, as George Russell did in Baku.
And in races where a single set of tyres can complete a full race distance, there is also the likelihood of teams doing such extreme strategies as Alex Albon did in Australia last year.