Esteban Ocon set for pit lane start for US Grand Prix
23rd October 2022Alpine’s Esteban Ocon is set for a pit lane start after the Frenchman has been given a fresh power unit ahead of the United States Grand Prix.
Ocon had a qualifying session to forget, on Saturday, as the French driver was eliminated early on with a Q1 exit.
The Alpine qualified P18 between McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo (P17) and Haas’ Mick Schumacher (P19) while his teammate, Fernando Alonso, qualified P9.
Before the race, Alpine decided to provide the Frenchman with a fresh power unit, energy store and control electronics system.
As the changes were committed without approval from the Technical Delegate, the changes mean Ocon will now start the US Grand Prix in the pit lane.
In the document, released by the FIA, they said:
“The changed PU elements were replaced whilst the car was in parc ferme without the approval of the Technical Delegate.
“As the PU elements were changed without approval of the Technical Delegate this is not in accordance with Article 40.3 of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations.
“The competitor is therefore required to start the race from the pit lane per article 40.9 b) of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations.”
Ocon will now join a list of drivers who will serve a penalty at the US GP, such as; Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), Sergio Perez (Red Bull), Fernando Alonso (Alpine), Gunayu Zhou (Alfa Romeo) and Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri).
These grid drops will mix up the grid compared to the qualification order. Perez will line up ninth on the grid, leading the penalised drivers while Leclerc is set to start P12. Alonso will start P14, ahead of Zhou and Tsunoda who line up 18th and 19th repsectively.
That’s it for the article; Esteban Ocon set for pit lane start for US Grand Prix! With the race going lights out in less than an hour, who is your early contender for the race win? Let us know in the comments!
Read more Formula 1 here:
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- F1 United States GP: Sainz tops first practice late on
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
