30 April 2023 , 13:43
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Christian Horner called upon the FIA to police their parc ferme procedure better after a worrying close call at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Esteban Ocon waited until the last lap of the race to come in for his mandatory stop as Alpine took a strategy gamble. It did not pay off, as the race itself was devoid of incidents and so the safety car period they needed to make a cheap stop never came.
But it almost resulted in horrific scenes as there were photographers and people stood in the pit lane as Ocon came in. Some had to leap out of the way of the car as it slowed to the 80kph speed limit and, fortunately, no-one was hurt.
"That's something that needs a review, because Esteban is within his rights to pit on the last lap and finish the race in the pit lane if he wanted to," said Red Bull chief Horner after the race. "That's something that the FIA needs to police a little better at the end of a race."
Had Ocon not made his mandatory stop, he would have been disqualified from the race. So it was clear that the Frenchman was going to be diving into the pits ahead of that last lap as he had not yet changed his tyres.
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Photographers in the pit lane as Esteban Ocon comes in at the end of the Azerbaijan GP (Sky Sports)"Oh what is this about! This is a shambles!" shouted Sky's Ted Kravitz as commentator David Croft agreed while watching the chaos unfold. The pit lane reporter added: "We could see it coming, Alpine could see it coming. What is going on down there?"
Croft concluded: "That is an absolute shambles of organisation and somebody should have known." When Mirror Sport has reached out to Formula 1 officials for comment, they said the FIA is responsible for the parc ferme procedure.
Representatives of the governing body responsible for the parc ferme procedure were summoned to the stewards after the race to explain themselves over the incident.
Sergio Perez won the race, making the most of Max Verstappen's misfortune. The Dutchman had pitted from the lead just a few seconds before a safety car allowed his team-mate to make a cheap stop.
But it was still a Red Bull one-two as Verstappen just had too much race pace for Charles Leclerc to resist. The Ferrari driver manager third ahead of Fernando Alonso, while Lewis Hamilton had to settle for sixth place behind Carlos Sainz.