Esteban Ocon to start Mexico GP from pit lane after parc ferme breach
Esteban Ocon may have run his last race for Alpine in Qatar
Originally slated to start from 19th position on the grid, Alpine driver Esteban Ocon will now start from pit lane at the Mexico Grand Prix.
The Frenchman has elected to change a few power unit components, thus relegating him to the pit lane as opposed to the last row of the grid.
Esteban Ocon to start Mexico GP from pit lane
After qualifying in 19th position in a 20-car field, Alpine driver Esteban Ocon has opted to start the race from the pit lane after changing some power unit components.
Alpine changed both the control electronics and energy store units in the A524. Both of these components have already been changed twice on Ocon’s car; with the third change, Article 40.9 of the sporting regulations states that the driver must then start the race from the pits.
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Ocon had a challenging qualifying session in Mexico City, unable to find the pace. He told media that “the car drove exactly the same, we did minor setup changes, but something didn’t quite work for us because we were clearly very slow.
“It was a frustrating session. We need to be on top of that, because we are very different across cars this weekend.”
Ocon is referring to teammate Pierre Gasly, who made it all the way through to Q3 to secure an eighth-place starting position.
After pointing out that he struggled in FP3, Ocon said that there had been some confidence in the team about moving forward.
“It was difficult as well in FP3, but in the end, we knew the reasons why it was difficult,” he said. “We were expecting to make a step forward in quali, but clearly we didn’t make it.”
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