FIA ‘investigating itself’ as Esteban Ocon makes worrying admission

F1 preview: A lap of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix

FIA bosses are “investigating itself” as Esteban Ocon admits he had “no idea” the pit lane was covered with photographers ahead of his near-miss. Ted Kravitz revealed race officials “made a mistake” and stressed “lessons needed to be learned” as he revealed fresh details about the incident. 

Ocon almost collided with media personnel as he entered the pits on the final lap of the race. Journalists had to jump out of the way to avoid being hit by the Alpine in scary scenes.

Kravitz said: “This was official FIA sanctioned photographers. That is why the FIA person in charge of this parc ferme arrangement has been summoned to see the stewards up there in race control. It’s effectively the FIA investigating themselves. It’s not a penalty or a fine. It’s nothing to do with Azerbaijan. 

“The officials obviously made a mistake, the photographers didn’t realise there was still one person to come in. Clearly the lesson does need to be learned as to when they can let people in for pure safety’s sake.”

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After the race, Ocon claimed he was unaware of the situation until he saw it for himself. The Frenchman said: “It was definitely scary. 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.”

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Red Bull boss Christian Horner called for a review into the incident moments after the chequered flag. He remarked: “That’s something that needs a review. Esteban’s within his rights to pit on the last lap. 

“That’s something the FIA have to perhaps police a little bit better before the end of the race.” Just after his interview, the governing body confirmed they would look into the issue with personnel called into race control.

An FIA statement read: “Representatives of the FIA responsible for the parc ferme area at pit entry are required to report to race stewards (at 14.30 BST) due to “personnel blocking the fast lane in the pit lane on the final lap of the 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix while the pit lane remained open.”

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