Esteban Ocon (FRA) Alpine F1 Team A523. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 4, Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Friday 28th April 2023. Baku City Circuit, Azerbaijan.
Esteban Ocon will start from the pit lane in Azerbaijan after Alpine withdrew his car from parc ferme conditions.
Ocon qualified in 12th place on Friday, and in 13th place in Saturday’s inaugural Sprint Shootout but will now start both Saturday’s Sprint race and Sunday’s grand prix from the pit lane.
Per Formula 1 regulations a car’s set-up is locked in prior to qualifying, meaning any withdrawal from parc ferme mandates a pit lane start for both Sprint and the grand prix.
It is the latest setback on a troubled weekend for Alpine.
Ocon’s Alpine team-mate Pierre Gasly suffered an engine failure during practice before crashing out of qualifying.
Gasly then had an exhaust leak in SQ1 and his running was truncated, leaving him on the back row of the grid once more.
Keyword: Ocon to start both Baku races from pit lane